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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

OCD and intrusive thoughts - yeah I'm outing myself here!

About two or three weeks ago I saw a psychiatrist who suggested I might have ocd, he wasn't particularly 'into' a label, he said he prefers to treat symptoms and avoid labels (I think labels can help get adequate support, but that's about it). He offered me Prozac but said it was my decision and that I should do some research first...he didn't seem keen to really push it. 

I pulled out the sheet of info on it he gave me today and started googling...yeah that's what I do at 6am, don't you? 

I looked over and over the symptoms of OCD and I felt some shock as I saw myself there....not just one of those 'oh that sounds like me' moments...more like OH. HOLY.SHIT.I SEE NOW. 
There is one particularly defining symptom that I have been unable to discuss, and now I know why: it is intrusive thoughts that make me feel like I'm a bad person. People with OCD often eliminate talking about those with therapists because the thoughts tell them it's true, you ARE bad! 

So I might imagine that I'm going to hurt someone, like maybe I'm actually a murderer but I don't know it! I know sounds crazy right? Other thoughts include an ongoing vision that I will crash my car deliberately when I'm driving, or that I've actually really hurt someone in the past but I'm unaware of it and soon I'll be arrested. It really sounds off the wall right? But that's what my head does and it makes me not want to hear bad stories because they remind me that I must be one of those bad people. 
My therapist, (in true Good Will Hunting style) tells me all the time I'm not a bad person and deep down I KNOW that...it's the stuffed up wiring in my head doing this! 

Apparently this is caused by a mix of genetics, differences in brain structure and traumatic childhood events. So onto that, have I talked about this? I might have let me check....oh yeah, I did here http://billystspot.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-max=2012-11-01T09:12:00%2B11:00&max-results=7&start=7&by-date=false

So yeah, I had trauma....

The questions that now arise in my mind are: 

  • Do I take the prozac or not? Maybe it'll help us all....I want relief from the thoughts and also maybe it'll help with uni as some people suffering OCD symptoms can have low self esteem and don't cope with criticism (it's a self fullfilling, self perpetuating cycle). For me, criticism sends me into a tail spin..and that's how I end up having a crap weekend and giving Jayke a hard time (I don't mean it though)
  • What now? When I have a good cracking debate or argument...will it be because I'm obsessing over things? Will I know when I'm being obsessive but I won't know it because I'm thinking to myself 'oh you're just obsessing Billy, they must be right' HOW WILL I KNOW?????
I feel so angry about it right now...when I talked to people who've known me as a child and throughout my life they agree that OCD fits - and ADHD is a well known co-morbidity and everyone knows I have that!
I can't quite get all my thoughts out on it right now...but I'm going to follow up with a chat with my therapist and my Dr as soon as I can. 

My last question is this: how the hell do I get the last 4 days back! I've been in a super bad headspace and now my work is behind and due soon....tail spin has long lasting effects....

*cranky human being out* 

UPDATE:
I ruminated about it and decided to go with taking the medication, I feel like I need to give it a go and I need a break from the exhaustion of my brain. I know that CBT will help too but I just need some extra help right now. If it doesn't work for me well that's life, and I don't have to be on it forever...it's not a life sentence! Took my first one day (only 10mg for a week first)
I'll update as time goes on :) 



2 comments:

  1. Prozac might not be the right medicine, but some medicines including SSRIs can get rid of that mental chatter, including thoughts that seem to be invasive, not really yours.

    When I was deeply depressed, I had visions, like mini vivid hallucinations of hurting myself.

    Therapy, and talking to people who are non-judgmental helps. But the right medicine make such a difference.

    I think I sent you a link to this another time, but this post of people talking about what happened when they found the right medicine is one of my favourite resources, and I share it widely: http://cadenzamuse.dreamwidth.org/24186.html

    <3, Gretchen

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  2. Thanks Gretchen! I'll have a read of that, let's hope the prozac does work :)

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