Pure-O? HOCD? READ ME.

Thanks for this insightful post.

I was told by a former psychiatrist to "stay away from Google!" I'm thinking I may now have to take him up on that even though I didn't at the time. The compulsion to search search search was and is very, very strong.

Maybe it's a good idea for all of us

What you wrote is too insistent on a few points.

1) Habituation EX/RP (exposure and response prevention) therapy is not effective for some people (20-25%, depending on the study), and it is best for anyone to try all evidence-based techniques rather than just one.

Other therapies include methods that focus on...

(A) Metacognitive elements - altering one's beliefs about the significance of one's obsessions and compulsion

(B) Cognitive elements - challenging one's obsessions on a factual basis, challenging one's beliefs about how likely one's fears are, challenging one's perspectives about core elements of an obsession [such as immorality], etc.

(C) Anxiety reduction - meditation techniques for lowering base anxiety, distracting oneself while exposed to situations that cause high amounts of anxiety, being mindful of what is happening around oneself instead of thinking about the future or focusing on physical sensations, etc.


Rather than tell people that they need to engage only in EX/RP methods, you should point people toward resources that describe multiple techniques that might be helpful, and encourage them to find out what works for them through experience with a therapist. Most methods should show results within 3-5 weeks.

Because CT and MCT are talk therapy approaches, you should remove or clarify the section you wrote against talk therapy. Instead, you should clarify that methods of counseling for non-clinical issues (trying to find an underlying cause for a problem that occurs, trying to boost general self-esteem or self-confidence, etc.) aren't helpful for managing OCD.

Related link: http://beyondocd.org/information-for-in ... or-therapy


2) Knowing whether or not a fear is rational/justified or irrational/unjustified is a core component to cognitive approaches, is important for understanding what situations or ideas can be used for exposure therapy, and for some people is key to their anxiety levels not increasing unnecessarily due to fear of not knowing what beliefs they can trust or which concerns are legitimate.

Self-insight is one of the key factors in whether or not therapy is successful.

To make the distinction between helpful information-seeking and unhelpful compulsory behaviors, here are two examples:

(A) It isn't a problem to learn about the genetics of homo/hetero/bisexuality if a person has an obsessive fear that their sexuality is changing. It is a problem to compulsively check articles that the person has previously read.

(B) It isn't a problem for a person who has OCD to ask a therapist trained in sexual issues if one's past experiences provide legitimate reason to think that one is bisexual. It is a problem to ask that therapist multiple times, in order to feel reassured over and over again.

Remember, the key to recognizing OCD-related behaviors is being aware of the timing, intensity, and frequency of one's feelings. Wanting to do something feels very different than feeling compelled to do something.

Rather than tell people not to question their beliefs, you should encourage people to talk with other people - especially a therapist who has treated OCD - to get an outside perspective.

Related link: http://www.ocdtherapist.com/PDFs/CanJPs ... Review.pdf


3) You're right to caution people against suffering in silence, but I would recommend adding that repeatedly asking people around you tell you "Everything's ok." or "That's an irrational thought/fear." reduces anxiety temporarily, but hinders one's ability to reduce how important one's obsessions feel and how necessary one's compulsions feel.

This is actually one of the most well written posts about Pure O I have seen. Very informative!

Cool!
He he, crazy how we can have the same things... to win, you have to not fight! But it's difficult, because a part of you tells you that if you don't react it means that you're okay with what it says!

For example... I was typing here... When i was typing, "But it's difficult", i didn't know if wanted to put a "," "..." or "." - First, i put "..." - then, i hesitated, and it's there that the OCD started... it told me, "if you put the "...", you'll be gay... if you put the ",", you'll lose your woman... Even typing here this latter sentence... it told me, "hey, you don't remember what were the ideas really attached to "," or "...", you don't remember, you're not exact, you'll lose your woman and you're okay with that because you didn't listen to me..." It is not just ideas, obsessions... it gives me orders, forces me to do things in a certain way... but, it is never happy and clear, if i do something, no matter how i do it regarding what it said, he's never satisfied... It's eternal... there's another thing... There, it told me, "you said "it" about me and "he""... so i changed everything into "it". Because i know in english we don't put "he" because "he" is for a person... Then, i don't know what i really want to put because it attaches powers and ideas to each of the choices... It told me, "you'll lose your woman, what you've done confirm it, and you're okay with it..." I put a "," between "confirm it" and "you're okay with it"... and it tells me again that i am okay with the "fact" that i'll lose my woman by doing this... Eternal... Damned! It is orders! Orders! Not just ideas... it attaches a magical thinking to my acts... it attaches the ideas to my acts and tells me that it will happen...

Do you have things like that? I really have the feeling it is not me... like somebody giving me orders... like somebody wanting to get my energy... $#%^... here too... i wanted to leave a line break and it attached a meaning and a power to, "leave a line break", "don't leave a line break"... and both are negatives... you can't win by playing with it but it puts me in a big anger because it tells me that i am okay with that, that i accepted what he said... then, i don't know what i really wanted to do... to leave a line break or not? $#%^... Each choice is negative and there's like a competition between what i want to lose or not... like if i negotiating with it... "okay, if you don't lose this, you lose this..." If i listen to it (i want to call it, him), i don't have any other choice than losing something... Again and again and again and again... always telling me that i did something the wrong way, that i lost something, that i have to change something, that it has importance... This is MAGICAL THINKING! I force myself to type here, because it is here at almost each moments!

Well, peace to you all... i'm really lost these latter times...

See you!

Hi, I'm 21 years of ages and have been suffering from what I think is HOCD bit of a history about me I was always in to females and always have been never had a girlfriend but always looked at the opposite sex in a sexual way and still do and want to be married with kids in the future. One gay thought at work one day has led me into a deep paranoia which has started to make me feel like every guy is attractive like my mind is telling me something im not "you are gay" and I have recently been dating a girl who I really enjoy seeing but feel like im living a lie. we have been dating i feel aroused when I have kissed her a few times.

secondly I have tried to have sex twice when I was drunk and couldnt get it up this has plagued me for 2 straight years but never thought anything of it and it wasnt my time to lose my virginity. but since this "HOCD" kicked in its made me question my life and even had suicidal thoughts at the start of this $#%^ lost a stone and half in 1 week felt lifeless for 2 and half weeks straight and didnt want to leave the house for work at all.

I also suffered from delayed puberty and started receiving testosterone injections to start this process at the age of 16 and everything was fine had started to live a normal life and they tried taking me off testosterone injections to see if i produced it naturally which i dont think i have as im below the normal range and have a testosterone injections tomorrow with my gp.

keep having these intrusive and unwanted thoughts just want them to go away they have caused me to break down in tears a few times and i dont know what to do feels like im living a life i dont want to live i still masturbate to woman and girl i know on facebook.

######6 hating life atm i used to be carefree until this started to happen even thought the anxiety has gone down the thoughts are still there causing me stresss at work.

can these thoughts be caused by low testosterone? or am i in denial? or do i have ocd something i never really have had before apart from keep checking if the dooors are locked before i go asleep and if the stove is switched of checking 3-4 times.

please help

someone standing on a train platform will commonly have a thought such as "Jump in front of the train." The difference between an OC and a non-OC is made after the spike itself.

Non-OC: Neutral response. Perhaps thinks the thought is strange, but sees it as insignificant.

OC: Brain miss-fire creates a sense of profound anxiety and terror, causing the person to question why they would have such a thought and what it says about them as a person.

. Hey there Wince, so I haven't realized this but correct me if I'm wrong. So pretty much non-OC's also get intrusive thoughts but know not worry over them? I always thought their minds just sat in one spot and they just reacted to each situation with a natural response. I mean I think I have OCD and I freak out a lot and when I ask questions for reassurance to non ocds they would be like "where did you get that idea from?" So I presumed they wouldn't experience the whole foreign thought thing.

I read somewhere that about 95 percent of the population get intrusive thoughts from time to time and I talked to my best friend about them who said she also gets "weird thoughts". So the thoughts are normal, the way people deal with them is different.

I don't have OCD. And I do have thoughts like that. An example that I hope won't be too triggering. Is the urge to trip joggers as they run past. I think many nons have thoughts around falling / jumping off high places or train platforms. I also have thoughts which I've seen described here as really stressing people out. Generally I don't pay attention to them. Or think "where did that come from?!" But that's all. There's no emotional reaction. And I wouldn't share them out loud.

Maybe the reason why people are surprised about the thought. Is not that you have it in the first place. But if nons are like me in terms of not sharing / analysing. It may come across as odd purely because of the sharing?

I can't say I know what other OCDers think, but with me, the intrusive harm thoughts, mostly fill me with just fear, when they're directed at myself, such as jumping off a balcony or something. Intentional harm directed at others, those cause me to think I must secretly be a very evil person to have thoughts of killing someone. It's always Snagina with me, these days. Or the fur babies. Which is perfectly normal- intrusive harm OCD is often directed at those closest to the sufferer- OCD does go for maximum effect, after all. And what is more scary than that?

To us-to me, anyway- I may know intellectually that nons have the same kind of thoughts, but on an emotional level, I find it hard to believe normal people get murderous thoughts. It just doesn't make sense that anyone who really cared about someone would think about killing them. I must be a bad person, right? And ofc I think it a lot, because it's OCD. Usually when I'm trying to compose myself for sleep- that used to cause maximum anxiety, so that's the pattern.

Lol @tripping joggers.... Yes I'm sure I've had things like that. Now, I do have to confess that on kindergarten, I was irritated at another boy bouncing in his chair, and I had the thought to quietly remove it out from under him. And I did.... And felt guilty over it for years, ofc...

Thank you so much for your valuable knowledge. I have suffered from OCD for years, mostly as a child and teen. It went away for years and has come back with a vengeance for about the past year. this time it's pure-O (I suffered OCD with compulsions as a child and Pure-O in my teen years). It's been years since I've experienced symptoms and somehow as an adult, it has been harder to deal with than ever. It's been accompanied by anxiety and some depression. for the first time, I am delving into lots of info. I am reading books, started going to therapy (though it's talk therapy and I don't feel like it's helping with my ocd, it's a start. I didn't realize that what I need is a CBT who specializes in OCD until I started doing research). I want to say that your post has helped shed a lot of light and relieve some of my anxiety. The dr. Steven Phillips video in particular was so helpful. You are so knowledgeable on the disorder, I'd like to ask you, do you think that just a strong understanding of the disorder alone is enough to combat it? Or is therapy crucial? Do you ever find that your OCD goes away and then comes back? I think that mine came back due to some majorly stressful life changes. i am eager to see how I feel the next few days after listening to dr. Phillips.. He really shed a lot of light on the disorder for me and I think just the understanding of what's going on in my mind might help. Thank you again for your helpful post!!