[ForeverLonelyGirl]

Just recently someone called my attention to this disorder, but reading about it makes me fairly sure that I have this. It started during my prolonged withdrawal off benzodiazepines but this is what plagues me constantly. Along with other w/d symptoms.

Has anyone been diagnosed with this? I am constantly obsessing over something. Increased anxiety, for any reason, causes me to have absolutely horrific intrusive thoughts. Such as thinking of hurting someone or myself or driving off a bridge. They are seriously frightening and I cannot dismiss them immediately. Evidently people do have these fleeting thoughts but do not dwell on them. They certainly have destroyed my peace of mind. I cannot take antidepressants and I have already had DBT which is similar to cognitive behavior therapy or CBT. CBT is supposed to help this Pure-O a lot or SSRI's.

I don't do the compulsive behaviors like hand washing, checking. Just obsess over everything, all the time. I think it does not turn off while I am "sleeping" either.

Can anyone relate???

[Eva_Star]

Yes....I'm OCD...very heavy on the O. Very. I've yet to find anything to help very much. CBT does keep me from totally losing it when the thoughts become overwhelming but CBT only works if you WORK it. It's worth a try and may give you some relief.

[ForeverLonelyGirl]

Like so many psychiatric disorders, there seems to be no help for it. Such as borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia. There is therapy but really no cures. Scary!

[pacificcoast]

I think I know how how feel, I have Had OCD quite severely since I was in middle school. Strangely at first I had many compulsions, but with CBT and a lot of work I seemed to have weeded out almost all of my compulsions. My Obsessions on the other hand continued to get worse. It got to the point that I was spending 14 hours a day locked in these thoughts that seemed extremely important, so important it seemed impossible to do anything that might divert my attention. Alas once night came and I was ready to go to sleep (after intense gridlock worry and thought from the moment I woke up) I would then go on to wake myself up in the night screaming and kicking. Just a year ago that was my daily life, but now things are different. I can go out of the house and do things that divert my attention, it is still hard but I can now live a more or less normal life.

The things that have changed in my life were believe it or not the introduction of an antipsychotic and "Spiting the obsession" which is essentially doing or not doing whatever the obsession is inhibiting you from doing or not doing. That's kind of confusing so I give an example: I am stuck in an obsession centered on an image that I would like to paint, I've given it plenty of time and now it's time for me to move on. Except I can't and the thought starts to circulate, SOMETHING does not seem right SOMETHING is very WRONG. It is at this moment I decide to "Spite the Obsession" and go to work (or doing something that will come in between the circular thoughts).

It's Kind of interesting because without the anti psychotic I can't do this, the thought is just to important.
Anyway don't give up, keep trying new therapies and working with your doctor and eventually you will at least be able to find some balance in your life
I've gone through 24 medications before finally finding the ones that seem to work

[freespirit37]

I've battled with obsessive, intrusive thoughts my whole life, similar to the kind you described. Now I distract myself with some kind of activity.

I created a box. It is a box that sits on the shelf in the closet of my bedroom. When something is bothering me and I won't stop, I write that thing on a piece of paper and put it in the box, then put the box on the shelf. And then I tell myself, "I have put it on the shelf and I'm not thinking about it anymore." And then I make myself go do the things I need to do instead of sitting there thinking about **** that pisses me off.

Hope that helps!