OCD – is it really an issue?

It really is an issue.

As far as medication, one should make that decision together with one’s therapist. I would be a little suspicious of a therapist who went directly to medication. Probably you should be a more concerned with treating the underlying cause than treating the symptoms.

(Yes, I know some will say the underlying cause is chemical imbalance. I don’t believe that for OCD. Maybe for something like bi-polar, I believe that.)

(Aside: I don’t know why some people think it is easier to deal with having an emotional problem if they write it off as a chemical imbalance. It seems to me that a chemical imbalance is more part of you, than environmental factors are. And neither is your fault.)

I became ocd from medication that was combating other mental illness issues that I have. The ocd was so over the top that I couldn’t live that way. It started making me depressed because ocd is so demanding. It would take me double the normal amount of time that it took me to leave my house, I couldn’t function properly at work etc. I was taken off my medication and we raised my other medicine and b”H everything calmed down. I also worked on it in therapy but I do not think therapy alone would have helped my situation. In my case, the meds were definitely necessary!

disturbed, gotcha but please be careful how you word things it could be offensive to someone with a particular issue or with a family member that has it.

Yes it’s a real issue and requires medication like any other mental illness. In order to be diagnosed it has to interfere with daily living not just little idiosyncrasies.

aries – didn’t you once say you’ve read “reality therapy” by Glaser – he gives a case in one of his books on how someone with OCD was cured without medication. i’ve heard that there’s book called something like brain-lock that deals with OCD. also, i think i’ve heard that there’s someone in Bnei Brak who specializes in it. Dina Friedman, who gives parenting workshops, addresses it a little in discussing OCD in children.

So, basically, my understanding is that there may be alternative solutions for OCD besides medication. but, definitely need to find the appropriate help for it – there are correct and incorrect ways of dealing with it.

I was helped greatly by medication; my problem was more obsessive worrying, but med’s work well for both the compulsive and obsessive behavior. Meds can literally change a person’s life around. It might take a while to find the best medication for any given person, but a competent psychiatrist will find it. Med’s should be combined with psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy) since the combination of both offers better imrpovement than either one alone).

What are the concerns – why does the person feel reluctant to take meds? Is money a problem or fear of stigma? No one should be left untreated because of lack of money – although I unfortunately do not know how to find financial assistance for treatment.

are you talking about doctor Lebowitz in Lakewood, NJ or someone else? I heard about a women who had OCD and goes to bathe and wash up a million times before going to the Mikvah and still then she says it wasn’t good and will go back…. sounds nuts to me but who knows?

I always wonder if I’m a bit OCD – maybe you can answer this – I like things to be clean and also very neat, and it bothers me very much when they’re not. I can only do so much with a family of kids and do look away when I can’t straighten up or don’t have strength. But it does make me nervous when things are out of order and give me such a good feeling to clean and organize. When I go down to the laundry, I notice if the stairs need to be swept and if someone brushed their teeth, I notice that now the mirror is now spotted up. I don’t loose my temper but sometimes feel tense inside from things not being the way I want. Any recommendations? Books ideas etc?

I know this is a dead topic but to adorable – I don’t know about this woman you heard about but when the OCD behavior is about religious things (as it is with me, according to the opinions that I have it in the first place) there tends to be a good deal of rationality involved. Sometimes all it takes is pointing to the right place in the shulchan aruch and the behavior stops. Other times the person might need a special heter custom-made for them. Maybe by non-religious stuff its also rational – I wouldn’t know.

TikunHatzot – The way I see it is that all treatments are annoying. They are expensive, and they either play around with your brain or take a significant time commitment. Some may have side effects too. So since they’re annoying, they should only be taken when the O and C become even more annoying than the alternative. Or if you feel a religious obligation to go on treatment, which is often related to how disturbing the O and C is. My take on things.

Yehuda Goldstein -“but when the OCD behavior is about religious things (as it is with me, according to the opinions that I have it in the first place) there tends to be a good deal of rationality involved.”

If s/o is diagnosed with OCD, then it isn’t rational, even if the OCD pertains to Frumkeit. Usually those that have OCD are put on medicine. When s/o has mental illness – it’s usually a 2-pronged Tx. – Psychiatrist & therapy (Psychologist or Social worker). There are Frum therapists that deal with OCD. This is preferable for a Frum patient!

RebYidd23 -“Part of the definition of OCD is that it is a disorder. If it’s not a problem, it’s not OCD”

“Not a problem”, for whom? If it is a problem for s/o, eg. spouse, children, etc., then it could also be OCD!