[genie]

Can anyone help me out with this.

Basically I am pretty certain I don't have DP anymore, however I am having a major struggle with obsessive thoughts which I think I have has a result of the DP. When I had DP my speech felt funny and it felt like it wasn't me talking therefore I started questioning 'how am I able to talk'. My thoughts felt weird so I questioned 'how am I able to think. Where do the thoughts come from' etc etc

Now it is at the stage where I can not switch my mind off from it. I think about it every second. I am questioning stuff like where do emotions come from, why do I react a certain way? Why did I just scratch my head? Why did I just move my head to the right?

I am questioning everything and anything I do/think/say and not only is it exhausting me it is terrifying me. I can't concentrate on anything else and nothing else interests me apart from this.

It is as though these thoughts came on with the DP but even though the DP is gone i'm left with the thoughts. I finally saw the consultant psychiatrist at the place that I go to who finally told me I was suffering from OCD rather than the vague category of anxiety I've been labelled with for months. I'm seeing someone who deals in OCD soon but I'm convinced she won't have come across these obsessions before as when you think of OCD it is normally obsessions to do with germs of fears of harming people etc.

It seems its only people with DP who have the same kind of obsessive thoughts I've mentioned.

Can anyone else give me any help with this? Any tips or strategies for dealing with it? Has anyone else had these kind of thoughts but managed to get over them?

Just any advice would be really appreciated as my life feels like its not worth living at the moment because I can't stop being scared by these thoughts and I can't live with the fact I don't know the answers to them.

 

[dreamcatcher]

genie... i know i am not a pyshc but i think you still have some of the dp symptoms...maybe not how they were but still aren't 100%...if you were you wouldn't still be questioning your movements etc....

OCD can be related to any obssession.....i have been there ...i had to check the cooker 10 times a night , and check the doors were locked,and when i had babies constantly putting my hand on there chest to check they were breathing.....and my worst symptom was having to have everything clean and in its place.....it took me 10 years to cure the ocd...then 18 months later i acquired this anxiety depression, dp/dr......maybe thats because i let my guard down on the ocd....who knows......

i have asked myself numerous times how we talk,walk move, and i accept we just do and i'll never get any answers but i still dont know how to get over it...so to speak as this things are always going to be with me

sorry to rant...i probably havent helped, but we are all in this together

 

[Guest]

Genie,

I have the same thing. My DP/DR is pretty much gone but I have insane thoughts. What I started doing is saying things like "that's just anxiety talking" and I imagine a big black hole that represents all the obsessive/paranoid thinking and I visualize not jumping into it. I know that sounds insane but it's helped me a bit.

Distract yourself. I've obsessed about the sound of my voice etc. as well. But try to read, watch TV, find other things that could capture your interest.

 

[sleepingbeauty]

Dp is essentially a biproduct of obsessive disorders. many discussions we've had on this subject in dpselfhelp.com posts of yore. and heres how you deal with it.. or rather... heres how i did as i speak for no one else but me!!!!

tell the OCD monster, whenever he does appear... to either:

A) F#CK OFF

or:

2) GO F#CK HIMSELF

mind you, variations may be done of the 2. play with it a little.

one more thing, try to give your OCD monster a particularly foul name. mines doodoobutt jones. (name of a pervert in our town that liked to show titty mags to us kids at the local arcade many years ago). anyways.. trust me.. it works.

goodluck. 8)

 

[terri*]

I was diagnosed with OC thinking. Repetitive thoughts, over and over and over and over and a million gazillion times plus that. One gal called it automatic negative thoughts. They came flying in at the speed of light, day in, day out. Open my eyes...there. Try to shut my eyes...there. This went on for a good two -three years. CBT and biofeedback helped me the most with this particular aspect of blowing my own mind.

So yes, Genie...you can have OCD with thoughts.

There are several ways to deal with it and many times following SleepingBeauty's way stops it dead in it's tracks! LOL

Hope this was of some help.
terri

 

[Guest]

i feel the exact same way you do. i'm going to see my doc tomorrow to talk about this problem. I obsess on the same kinds of thoughts along with others relating to existence and why i am here and all that stuff. It's miserable, but the only thing I have found that helps is to just accept that it's just my mind being anxious and then try to distract myself. It's a day to day thing, and I try not to look ahead very much. Hang in there! You aren't alone!

 

[genie]

This is kind of related to my post - basically I was feeling really desperate so I call a helpline number I was given called OCD action and had a chat with a nice woman and she said something quite helpful.

She told me I must accept myself as I am at the moment, thoughts and all because that is who I am right now. I should stop trying to figure out why I'm thinking them and worrying about how long it is until I get back to normal and why can't I be myself again.

Just accept myself the way I am and take some of the pressure off myself, as pressurising myself is increasing the anxiety which is increasing the thoughts. Just stop fighting the thoughts, let them come but don't be upset by the fact I'm having them.

I just found that really useful as I am fighting like mad, thinking how I must be better, I must make this stop and by saying to myself 'hang on, I don't have to do that' I actually feel a lot better.

 

[terri*]

Keep working it, Genie.

 

[Dreamer]

Everyone is saying constructive things here, but I wanted to clarify something...

OCDisorder is a very specific disorder involving compulstions and rituals to alleviate anxiety. This is not the same as obsessing, in and of itself.

Someone with OCD can have DP/DR. Those of us with DP/DR do obsess, I do it myself.

In a good number of cases, to the best of my understanding, in OCD, if that is treated (with meds and CBT) the sypmtoms of DP can be eliminated. I have one friend who experienced this.

But in either case, working on distracting one's self, and forcing yourself to ignore obsessing is important .

My friend as the following type of OCD. She had intrusive blasphemous religious thoughts, which caused her great anxiety which sometimes went into full blown panic and DP/DR. To alleviate the anxiety, she had rituals, mainly repeated prayer, excessive prayer, and a need to control every aspect of her life to dangerous excess.

My husband is an OCD hoarder/clutterer. He has a compusion to collect certain things -- can't throw them out. Also fears failure re: making decisions, so he can't do either... has much anxiety. His obsessions are about failure, and a need to "know everything" before making ANY decision. His compulsion is to save information -- magazines, newspapers, tags off of clothing, and other stuff too. This alleviates anxiety, but causes more problems re: chaos.

In both cases, treatment with an SSRI and CBT, have helped tremendously. Both do not obsess over the things we obsess about -- losing ourselves, existential ruminations, stupid repetitive thoughts, their obsessions are very specific and have to be dealt with by ritual.

Just to clarify.

In both cases as I said, stopping the thoughts over and over, is a great way to control them better.

Best,
D

 

[Dreamer]

PS, this is a very simplistic definition of OCD. See the Merck Manual Link to look up Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Compare that to the definition of DP/DR.

It was discussed on the old DP board that DP was an "OCD spectrum disorder" ... that is still a matter of debate.

Also, all mental illness can potentially be accompainied by DP/DR.

Best,
d