So yesterday the topic was avoidance, and I briefly mentioned and described “exposures.” I’ve probably briefly mentioned and described exposures many a time on the blog (and described the difference between lifestyle and purposeful exposures), but I thought I would delve in a little deeper today with some examples. Basically, exposures involve forcing yourself to be…
I was talking to a friend the other morning about a member of her family who has social anxiety. The reason I bring this up is that it got me thinking about the relationship between anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. How does “not doing” something because of an anxiety/worry/fear compare to the “compulsions” of OCD? When you…
Why is seeking reassurance so frowned upon during the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder? Why shouldn’t we be allowed to get confirmation from someone we trust that something terrible isn’t going to happen? Or that we don’t have any pee on the back of our pants? Or that the garage door is closed or the oven is off?…
It’s easy for an outsider to say “Get help!” to someone struggling with OCD or any other mental illness, but the truth of the matter is that getting help can be extremely tricky. First of all, you are often emotionally vulnerable when the need to seek outside assistance arises. Things have usually gotten pretty bad by that point, or…
My doctor told me at my last appointment that he hasn’t ever used hand sanitizer. For real? Maybe he is lying or maybe he is at the other extreme from where I usually live. But never? I think I told him something to the effect of “Good job! You’ve probably saved so much money.”