Hi Emra,
I have "Pure O" as it is so affectionately called. I ruminate about my health, my husband, my friends, you name it.
This website helps me tremendously, as well as the countless books I have read. It is nice to know you are not alone in this agony.
Good Luck
Last edited by piggytoesmom; 08-25-2004 at 05:28 PM.
big time "pure o" here... i have always been SLIGHTLY OCD, but in the past year, after i started getting panic attacks, i was stressed and it blew up on me in a big way... been dealing with this for about 5 months now... it gets easier as you understand and read more about it, but its still really a tough thing to have... no way to explain as im sure the both of you know...
Pure-O here, too. I mostly obsess about my health, sanity, worry about acting inappropriately (some of these obsessions vary from scary to downright comical), existential issues, human nature, that kinda thing.
For the longest time I just thought I was crazy or just plain f'ed up, but since being diagnosed, it's like a ton of bricks off my mind and my soul. Just knowing that I had a disorder that caused all these weird thoughts and wasn't just crazy helped dissapate a huge portion of my daily anxiety. I don't have to blame myself anymore. For the most part, I'm much better these days. I take 25 mgs of Paxil CR and it seems to do the trick in helping me stayed evened out and not all over the board.
Thank you so much for responding. I’ve had OCD almost 18 years (& I’ve just turned 25.) I’ve never experienced obsessions concerning contamination, hoarding, ordering, or hyper responsibility. When I was younger I had a few symptoms of scrupulosity but other than that the majority of my life has been government by Pure Obsession. My obsessions have basically been alleviated due to cognitive behavior therapy and medication (40 mg of Celexa/day.) During my worst times my obsessions were primarily aggressive and/or sexual. I hid my disease from my family and friends - people only knew me as the popular girl / honors student who loved drama. I felt like a fraud because I had this deep dark secret. I didn’t know what was wrong with me until I was 22. I was diagnosed with OCD after being wrongfully diagnosed with schizophrenia. I was sent to an outpatient hospital program for early psychosis treatment. Luckily for me the psychiatrist was extremely perceptive and informed me that I had been miss diagnosed and that I was actually suffering from OCD. I told her that I couldn’t be OCD because I didn’t have compulsions. It was then that I first heard of Pure Obsession. After that initial visit, I went to a local book store and started to read a book called The OCD Workbook [By Bruce M. Hyman, Ph.D. and Cherry Pedrick, R.N.] Chapter 9 of the book was completely devoted to Pure Obsession. The chapter includes cases studies and anecdotes about Pure-O suffers and their symptoms. Reading that completely changed my life. I sat down and cried right in the middle of the bookstore. It was as if they had gone into my head and written down everything I had ever obsessed about. I bought the book on the spot and it has helped so much.
Now I am fairly well adjusted to living with OCD. Therapy, medication and the loving support of my fiancé and family has helped. This past spring I did a lecture for an abnormal Psychology class (I am currently completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Drama as my major and Psychology as my minor.) It felt great to face my peers and tell them about this illness. I received so much positive feedback - the most common comment I got was how I changed the stereotype of OCD that most people have.
Please keep in touch. This board is a great way to grow because it reminds us that we are never truly alone!
Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are often confused with one another. As a result GAD is a differential diagnosis for OCD and vice versa.
GAD is diagnosed based on the following criteria:
Excessive anxiety/worry must occurr more days than not for at least 6 months, about work, school, etc. The anxiety is difficult to control. Three of the six symtoms associtaed with GAD must be present in adults; restlessness, being easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, & sleep disturbance. These symptoms must cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is similar to GAD because both cite anxiety as the root of the disorders. One of the most ironic things about OCD is that to be diagnosed with it you can have either obsessions or compulsions but compulsions need not be present for a diagnosis to be made. That is essentially what pure obsession OCD is; obsessions without compulsions. Obsessions are defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress. They are not excessive worries about real-life problems.
People with Pure-O do not have compusions, as such, to alleivate anxiety caused by obsessions; instead Pure-O’s attempt to ignore, suppress, or obsessions with other thoughts.
The best quote I’ve found to sum up Pure-O is “To want to forget something is to remember it.” Most of my thoughts are very aggressive but I have never acted on them. One example is that I used to have reoccuring images of physically hurting my family. Since that wasn’t in my nature I tried to convince myself that I didn’t really want to do that. So I would try to reason with myself (neutralize) or I’d try to make myself forget the images (suppress.) But the more I tried to reason or forget the stronger and more persistant the images would become.
Based on medical information, GAD seems to be less specific than OCD. GAD seems to be a constant underlying anxiety. OCD is specific and usually centers on particular stressors.
