Posted by yxibow on March 21, 2007, at 16:27:51
In reply to Re: How Do I Know If I Have OCD?, posted by Racer on March 21, 2007, at 16:03:49
> Well, there's OCD, and then there's OCPD -- Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. The easiest way to distinguish the two that I've ever heard is that OCD causes discomfort for the person who has it, OCPD causes discomfort for everyone around that person...
OCD can cause discomfort for the person and be taxing on the family at the same time. Often psychiatric support is necessary for the family for a difficult case. The one thing the family should not do is "enabling", during CBT, for example, which is say, for example, seeing the pain of the sufferer, and giving them gloves so they don't have to touch something they think is dirty. The OCD sufferer, while under anxiety and pain, doesn't learn enough to do it on their own.
That's a simplistic way of putting it, but it kinda does work, from what I understand about the two.Yes... OCPD is not OCD and is a personality disorder.
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> OCD can be purely obsessive, or it can include compulsions. The compulsions are a way to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsessions. The obsessions may be related to dirt or germs, or they can be anything. You know that old rhyme, "Step on a crack?" If you think of that and avoid stopping on any cracks in the sidewalk, at any time, for any reason, to the point of walking around an area with too many cracks, that might be OCD. Having a specific place for cheese in the fridge is more OCPD, I'd say.
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> There's a lot of overlap, though. My "official" dx includes a note saying "Obsessive Compulsive Personality Traits." I do have certain silly compulsions -- if I raise or lower the volume on the TV or stereo, it has to go to an even number; I have to use three paper towels in a public restroom, really stupid things -- but the bottom line on it is that they don't interfere with my functioning. (That I can tell...) OCPD is more a diagnosis meaning "perfectionist."
That actually sounds like OCD. The obsession is the Volume must be 2,4,6,8.. The compulsion is doing it. You have a feeling you must use 3 paper towels in a restroom, you get anxious if you use 2. That is also OCD.OCD is measured on the YBOCS (Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) of 0-40, around 7 being the subclinical level that can be observed in most people to such a mild level that it is hard to differentiate.
I had a YBOCS of 39 when I exited high school and I could not control my showers which became at times up to 7 hours regardless if I was fainting. I probably had the worst case seen in recent times. I was hospitalized for more than 2 months and things reduced and was in a day treatment program at the same time and then a bit longer.
I am an anonymous pastiche (constructed character to hide identity) in an book by a specialist who I won't name for my own privacy, on OCD.
Today I probably have a YBOCS of 10 or so -- I have pure obsessions as a vestige of what is OCD, a lifetime disorder. They're annoying but if you learn CBT, and you essentially brush them aside, you go on. Some pure obsessions (garbage words, etc) can be really debilitating and can require SSRIs and neuroleptics to block them.
People with OCD know they have OCD about 99% of the time (occasionally it tips into psychosis territory and neuroleptics are needed -- it can also be comorbid with schizophrenia) but feel they cannot stop.
OCD forms a spectrum of disorders which we now know are somewhat related -- the OC Spectrum, OCD, Trichotillomania, Cutting, Tourette's, Tics.
The OC Foundation http://www.ocfoundation.org/ is a good place to start off.> And even if it's true, OCD is basically a slightly more focused anxiety disorder. It's not a badge of shame.
Definately not a badge of shame. No anxiety disorder should be. Its just something that if one is lucid and recognizes it and it interferes with life to a greater extent they should seek CBT and/or CBT with an SSRI as a standard protocol. Its not easy but what you learn you can apply later on.
poster:yxibow
thread:742798
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070320/msgs/742901.html