# OCD Coping Tips



## Daniel (Jun 11, 2020)

David Clark's Cognitive Approach to OCD

The word “intrusive” has a pathological connotation, but most thoughts are intrusive, that is, they come to the thinker unbidden. Very few thoughts are produced intentionally. Pointing this out to patients and not referring the obsessive thoughts as “intrusive” helps to normalize patients’ appraisals of their thoughts and of themselves.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 11, 2020)

Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You - Robert L. Leahy - Google Books

This is one of my favorite metaphors for dealing with obsessions. I ask you to imagine that an obsession is a lonely character with no friends. Everyone is yelling at him to stop—and that's the only attention he can get.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 17, 2020)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changepower/201310/3-ways-stop-imagining-the-worst

"Whatever happens, I can cope." This statement reminds you of your own inner resources and gives you the determination to meet the challenges of life. (The concept comes from the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tradition.)


----------



## Daniel (Aug 24, 2020)

https://beyondocd.org/expert-perspectives/articles/acceptance-and-ocd

Keep in mind the need to stubbornly refuse to quit.  As the famous 18th century OCD and Tourette’s sufferer Samuel Johnson said, “Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”


----------



## Daniel (Sep 11, 2020)

Some people report that they have difficulty distinguishing between spikes [unwanted thoughts] and "legitimate important thoughts." A fool proof litmus test for telling the difference is to ask yourself did the thought or question come with an associated anxiety or feeling of guilt. Ultimately all such thoughts can be placed in the realm of OCD. When asked "What if it's not OCD," I say "Take the risk and live with the uncertainty."

~ Steven Phillipson, Ph.D


----------



## Daniel (Oct 26, 2020)

“If you surrender to uncertainty, nothing goes wrong.”

~ Deepak Chopra


----------



## Daniel (Oct 29, 2020)

"Our energy and the energy of the universe are always in flux, but we have little tolerance for this unpredictability, and we have little ability to see ourselves and the world as an exciting, fluid situation that is always fresh and new. How we relate to this dynamic flow of energy is important. We can learn to relax with it, recognizing it as our basic ground, as a natural part of life; or the feeling of uncertainty, of nothing to hold on to, can cause us to panic, and instantly a chain reaction begins. We panic, we get hooked, and then our habits take over and we think and speak and act in a very predictable way."

~ Pema Chödrön, _Taking the Leap_


----------



## Daniel (Nov 24, 2020)

“Gratitude is an emotion that grounds us and is a great way to balance out the negative mindset that uncertainty engenders.” 

~ Guy Winch


----------



## Daniel (Nov 25, 2020)

"Sanitize your inner critic (OCD) with gratitude."

~ Tammy LaBrake


----------



## Daniel (Dec 7, 2020)

Actual genuine blog 

There should be more about about the less well-known symptoms of Obsessive-compulsive disorder, things such as


    hyper-morality (extreme black and white moral reasoning)

    hyper-responsibility (feeling responsible for everything to a self-destructive degree, even feeling responsible for events which have nothing to do with you)

    intolerance of uncertainty, (feeling very uncomfortable if you do not know everything about a given situation). 

    Excessive and persistant desire for reassurance

    Extreme bouts of anger
Everyone who has OCD has it in a different form, so they might not show all of these symptoms but for others it can be a defining part of their illness.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 17, 2020)

Untangling the Web of Comorbid Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Medical Illness | Psychiatric Times

A recent Swedish population-based study showed unexpected results: a higher dose of SSRIs and longer treatment duration were correlated with a lower risk of metabolic or cardiovascular problems. This evidence can be explained in many ways, including better disease control, appropriate pharmacological treatment, and unhealthy habits (smoking, unhealthy diet). Full doses of SSRIs could prevent secondary depression; comorbidity can be as high as 80%, but most prevalence rates are around 25% and 50%, considering OCD. Moreover, better symptom control could reduce anxiety, which plays a key role in causing metabolic and cardiovascular alterations.

Both depression and OCD have an impact on glycemic control, which is exacerbated with high anxiety with consequent hyperglycemia via activation of autonomic responses and triggering the HPA axis. Hyperglycemia can also lead to anxiety in different ways. By increasing cortisol secretion, altering heart rate, and modifying skin conductance levels it can lead to stress-like arousal patterns pervasive in psychiatric patients.

------------------

Can diabetes cause anxiety? Blood sugar and other causes

The emotional challenges of living with diabetes can also trigger anxiety.

Researchers report that anxiety affects about 40% of people with diabetes. This prevalence is much higher than that in the general U.S. population, where the condition affects 18.1% of people.

People with diabetes are at risk of developing low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Some of the symptoms of hypoglycemia are identical to those of anxiety.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 18, 2020)

What to Do When Your Client Suffers from Intrusive Thoughts that Cause Anxiety, Shame, Embarrassment, or Depression | NewHarbinger.com

    Change “what if” to “what is”: pivot your attention to what you hear, see, and smell right now in the moment.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 18, 2020)

Brain scans reveal why it is so difficult to recover from OCD

Current exposure therapies may only teach patients how to deal with their compulsions rather than truly learning that the situations they are so scared of are not actually dangerous...

An avenue for improving future treatment for OCD would be to explore better learning in patients that not performing compulsive safety behaviours is truly safe. This could be achieved by boosting rewards in therapy for not performing safety behaviour or possibly with the help of certain drugs that can enhance the positive experience of not having to perform the compulsions.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 20, 2020)

Self-vulnerabilities, attachment and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms: Examining the moderating role of attachment security on fear of self - ScienceDirect
October 2020



Fear of self (FOS), denoting fear of who might one be or who might one become (Aardema et al., 2013), for instance, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms and has been shown to relate to OCD symptoms in clinical and non-clinical samples (Aardema et al., 2017; Melli, Aardema, & Moulding, 2016)...

Our findings are consistent with theoretical writings implicating attachment insecurities in the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms (e.g., Doron & Kyrios, 2005; Doron, Sar-el et al., 2012; Guidano & Liotti, 1983). *Attachment security and contextual activation of the sense of attachment security have been linked with cognitive and emotional flexibility, tolerance for uncertainties and ambiguities, and openness to inner pain* (e.g., Cassidy, Shaver, Mikulincer, & Lavy, 2009; Mikulincer, 1997; Mikulincer, Shaver, & Rom, 2011). Our findings suggest that the cascade of mental events linking self-vulnerabilities with OCD is more likely to occur among insecurely attached people than among secure ones, and that dispositional attachment security may protect against the development of OCD-symptoms. The mobilization of mental representations of supportive others or actual sources of support may sustain optimistic beliefs and constructive strategies of distress regulation and maintain a stable sense of self-worth (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016), thereby preventing the development of OCD.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 20, 2020)

Feared self-perception interacts with dysfunctional reasoning in the prediction of obsessive-compulsive symptoms


CBT based on this model explicitly addresses feared self-perceptions in OCD, and aims to *help clients develop a greater level of self-trust* by utilising more *reality-based criteria* in defining their sense of self.

Need to demonstrate to clients that their feared possible self arises on the basis of dysfunctional reasoning that renders the feared self invalid.

Feared possible selves in cognitive-behavioral theory: An analysis of its historical and empirical context, and introduction of a working model - ScienceDirect


Self-constructs have been largely ignored in cognitive formulations.
The feared self is believed to be highly relevant in OCD and related disorders.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 31, 2020)

OCD and Isolation

While the Internet cannot take the place of face-to-face interaction, I do believe that social media sites have the potential to lessen the feelings of isolation that OCD sufferers feel. Connecting with others on forums, or even just reading about people who are suffering as they are, can help reduce loneliness, and in the best case scenario, prompt those with OCD to seek appropriate help.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

obsess - Wiktionary

From Latin _obsessus_, perfect passive participle of _obsideō_ ("sit on or in, remain, besiege"), from ob ("before") + sedeō ("I sit"); see sit, session, etc.


compulsive - Wiktionary

Borrowed from French _compulsif_, formed from Latin _compulsus_, past participle of _compellere _(“to compel”), from _com-_ (“together”) + _pellere_ (“to drive”).


disorder - Wiktionary

From _dis-_ +‎ _order_.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

International OCD Foundation | How is OCD Diagnosed?

Diagnosis of OCD by Jonathan S  Abramowitz PhD ABPP - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

OCD3: What is Existential OCD? - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

OCD3: What is Suicidal OCD? - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

OCD3: What is Harm OCD? - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

OCD3: What is Responsibility OCD? - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

OCD3: What is Relationship OCD (ROCD)? - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 1, 2021)

Dr Jeffrey M Schwartz  Its Potential 2011 - YouTube


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Jan 1, 2021)

Daniel said:


> OCD3: What is Harm OCD? - YouTube



This is a not uncommon postpartum reaction, by the way. Fears of not being able to keep the baby safe get turned into fears that the mother may actually want to harm the baby.

Of course, the origin of the intrusive and scary thoughts is the exact opposite: How do I keep my baby safe? But like other thoughts, OCD distorts the original worry and transforms it into something much more disturbing and frightening.


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Jan 1, 2021)

Thank you, @Daniel. This is an excellent series of videos that clearly presents the varieties of OCD, what they mean, and what to do about them,


----------



## Daniel (Jan 2, 2021)

Breaking the Curse of Obsessive Thoughts

The obsessions aren't about the remark you think you shouldn't have made, or the crack in the sidewalk, or about the major you have to declare. It's about your neurons misfiring, your brain getting confused, much like I do when I go near a stove. Your amygdala, belonging to the older, reptilian brain that kept us safe from saber-tooth tigers, got triggered by something and is throwing a tantrum. It's stuck, like the Whinny the Pooh keychain that I had that wouldn't stop playing the annoying theme song. Even when I chucked it into the backyard.

Therefore, no immediate action is required from you. You don't have to make things right or do anything to reconcile the situation. No behavior or next step is going to save you from the distress because 99 percent of the obsession isn't based in reality as much as it feels like it is.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 12, 2021)

"Aliveness and centered spontaneity...is the paradoxical gift waiting to be unwrapped at the core of compulsion."

~  Christian R. Komor


----------



## Daniel (Jan 15, 2021)

Medications for OCD

Fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, citalopram, and escitalopram are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) because they primarily affect only serotonin.  Clomipramine is a nonselective SRI, which means that it affects many other neurotransmitters besides serotonin.  For this reason, clomipramine has a more complicated set of side effects than the SSRIs.  In general, SSRIs are usually tried first because they are easier for people to tolerate.  Although the SSRIs are not used in combination with each other, an SSRI plus clomipramine can sometimes be used together to combat severe symptoms. The usual effective doses of these medications are higher for OCD than they are for other disorders, like depression, which also respond to SRIs...

Another option is to add another medication as an adjunct to the first.  This is usually done if the patient has gotten some improvement from the first medication, but continues to have significant symptoms.  There are many choices for adjunct medications, including:


    Adding clomipramine to an SSRI
    An anxiety-reducing medication, such as clonazepam, alprazolam or buspirone, in patients with high levels of anxiety
    A neuroleptic, such as haloperidol or risperidone, especially for people with pathological doubting (a symptom where you do not trust your own senses or need reassurance that you have or haven't done a particular thing), or where tics or thought disorder symptoms are present.
 Lithium, particularly if big changes in mood are a problem

...Laboratory tests are necessary before and during treatment with clomipramine but not with the SSRIs.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 15, 2021)

If You Have OCD and Struggle With Your Career — Try These 15 Jobs


----------



## Daniel (Jan 18, 2021)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-beginning-the-end/202012/can-new-ocd-treatment-help-where-others-fall-short

I firmly believe all sufferers need a “reason," a “calling," or an “event” that really shakes and pushes them to their personal bottom. A place where they feel that they cannot live this way anymore or feel that they have had enough of all the “bullsh*t.” Once, a sufferer is correctly driven, I believe 99% of the problem is taken care of.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 18, 2021)

Overcoming Intrusive Thoughts - YouTube

Recorded April, 2018.  
Presented by ADAA members Martin Seif, PhD, ABPP and Sally Winston, PsyD

(authors of _Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A CBT-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, or Disturbing Thoughts_)

Webinar Description: 

Do you have frightening, obsessive, or disturbing thoughts that intrude on your life? If the answer is yes, then tune in to this webinar for some great tools to help you overcome these thoughts.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 19, 2021)

myMCT OCD Manual (English)


----------



## Daniel (Jan 20, 2021)

On opposite action:

Treating the Severe OCD Client Video - YouTube


----------



## Daniel (Jan 21, 2021)

_Living Beyond OCD Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Workbook for Adults_


----------



## Daniel (Jan 21, 2021)

Introducing Paradoxical Techniques to OCD Clients

Although for most psychological disorders, common factors such as the therapeutic alliance are more important than the particular approach, in the case of OCD there is substantial evidence that cognitive-behavioral approaches are the most effective treatments we currently have.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 25, 2021)

OCD Isn't a Thought Problem, It's a Feeling Problem

Here is the actual problem of OCD. The feeling. More specifically, it is the feeling that makes you engage in compulsive behavior, which subsequently reinforces the OCD cycle. Chasing down and embracing that feeling with a welcoming and accepting posture desensitizes you to the feeling over time. Conversely, if you are unwilling to feel the feeling, but instead rely on compulsions and avoidances, desensitization cannot happen.

Remember, we are able to acknowledge that the trigger is neutral, and has a number of alternative associations. Additionally, we are very capable of telling ourselves why the Feared Story is irrational and wrong. However, we are unable to convince ourselves to not feel something because feelings are largely out of our control.

While not bad or wrong, feeling anxiety in an OCD moment is unwanted. Typically speaking, we say anxiety feels bad, but it by itself is not "bad." It is an unwanted feeling state at the moment you're feeling it. When we ride a roller coaster or see a horror movie, we expect to feel butterflies in our stomach, feel our heart racing, and feel jumpy. You know, anxiety feelings. But in this context, we paid good money for the experience! So, the feeling itself is not bad, just unwanted at that moment and inconsistent with the level of actual risk.

Similarly, when it comes to OCD, sometimes the feeling isn't just anxiety, but sadness, loneliness, anger, apathy, or emptiness...


----------



## Daniel (Jan 28, 2021)

The Power of the Word "Maybe" 

How do you embrace uncertainty with respect to OCD-related fears?

Cue to the use of "maybe."

OCD treatment is unique.  It involves a specific form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) called Exposure-and-Response Prevention (ERP), which can be enhanced with the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - I know, quite a number of acronyms right there!  Everything you've probably learned about treating anxiety is seemingly flipped upside down.  Instead of trying to prove just how irrational one's fears are, and provide reassurance that one's worst-case scenarios will not happen, OCD treatment focuses on the "maybe," the uncertainty, the possibility, that ones nightmare scenario, the one they try so hard to prevent through the use of rituals, can actually come true - that "maybe" I will contract a terminal illness one day and die, that "maybe" I will forever be focused on a "just wrong" feeling and never be able to succeed, that "maybe" I will commit a morally wrong act, and that "maybe" my true sexual orientation is not in fact what I think it is.  

Scary, isn't it?

The rationale for this approach is as follows:  The use of "maybe" is an exposure-based practice to help improve one's tolerance for uncertainty.  Now, be mindful that becoming tolerant to the possibility of a fear coming true is not the same thing as saying you want it to come true or that you don't care if it comes true. Acknowledging the possibility of a feared outcome is also not the same as saying there is a 50/50 chance. The goal is not to try and figure out the exact probability of your feared story playing out, nor is it to learn to like it.  Instead, the goal is to build a tolerance to it, to make room for the possibility of it showing up one day, vs. fighting with it.  As you may know, trying to fight a specific fear - and seek a guarantee that it won't come true - doesn't work. You inevitably find yourself caught in a vicious loop of feeling triggered ---> experiencing high anxiety ---> using rituals to reduce this anxiety ---> getting retriggered ---> experiencing high anxiety ---> using rituals to reduce this anxiety.... and so on. Embracing the "maybe" of your fear, along with the short-term discomfort it will evoke, allows you to finally break this cycle.

Think about all the uncertainties and "maybes" we face every day.  We get in our cars and drive to the store knowing "maybe" I can get in a fatal car crash.  Our family members go to work and there's that possibility that "maybe" they don't come home. How frightening to think about!  Yet, we continue to get in our cars, and our family members continue to leave for work.  While these fears may not be highly probable (hence why they are called "worst-case" scenarios), they are still possible.  We operate alongside this possibility - the "maybe." We tolerate these uncertainties and make room for them.

The goal then becomes generalizing this skill to core fears driving OCD symptoms. We want to practice the use of "maybes," while refraining from avoidance behaviors, or using any rituals to bring down the discomfort it will initially evoke.  The goal is to continue about your day, bringing your discomfort along for the ride, while focusing on more meaningful activities that trying to play the OCD-certainty game (a game that can never be won!).


----------



## Daniel (Jan 28, 2021)

No One Told Me Intrusive Thoughts Could Make Me Feel Unlovable | Made of Millions Foundation

I’m still learning how to welcome doubt, uncertainty and imperfection into a life where previously anything below perfect -- whether it was my academic achievement, my social life, or my ‘goodness’ -- was counted as failure. I’m learning that building up my self-esteem is hard work, and isn’t achieved in a six-week course of CBT after a six-month wait. But I’m also learning how freeing it is to feel the heavy restrictions I’ve placed upon myself slowly start to lift away. I’m learning that true goodness doesn’t lie in a spotless mind but in acceptance, openness and care.


----------



## Daniel (Feb 21, 2021)

*5 Ways to Make Meditation More Accessible to People With OCD and Anxiety*

*If you attempt to be mindful, then you have succeeded* at the exercise even if you did not _achieve_ a sense of mindfulness itself. Rather than approaching meditation from a place of judgment, one actually begins to benefit from meditation by strengthening their non-judgmental skills.


----------



## Daniel (Feb 21, 2021)

Somatic OCD and Reclaiming Mindfulness – New Harbinger Publications, Inc
					


While mindfulness is one of the chief strategies for alleviating the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which is used to call attention to





					www.newharbinger.com
				




The greatest exposure for this type of obsession is acceptance...It is the resistance...that causes so much distress.

it can help to be mindful of whether you’re attending or _over_attending to the present moment; if you’re over attending, to “acknowledge that your mind has taken the act of meditation and shifted it to a performance review.”


----------



## Daniel (Feb 28, 2021)

The One Diagnosis All Therapists Should Understand
					


It pertains to limits of confidentiality and keeping clients safe.





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




*On average, studies show that those with OCD suffer 14 to 17 years from the onset of their symptoms to the time they access proper treatment. *This is sadly often the result of shame that many people with OCD experience because of the content of their obsessions, misconceptions about the disorder, and *an overall lack of understanding about OCD by many therapists*.


----------



## Daniel (Feb 28, 2021)

Finding a Therapist for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
					


Finding a Therapist for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder By Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D.      PsychCentral blog: Anxiety & OCD Exposed  May 20, 2009            We recommend that people with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) get help from a therapist with experience and training in cognitive...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




The last thing you want to do with OCD is to work with someone for a long time and feel judged, not heard, or not have a reasonable set of goals and plans for getting you where you want to go.


----------



## Daniel (Mar 10, 2021)

Most of us aren't Hitlers or animal abusers. Most of us are affected by a long Christian tradition that, in matters of moral import, equates thoughts with deeds; on some level we feel that to think something "bad" is equivalent to doing something bad. So we carry needless psychic baggage in the form of shame and guilt about ourselves.

~ Timothy Beneke


----------



## Daniel (Mar 12, 2021)

Stuck in a loop ‘of wrongness’: Brain study shows roots of OCD
					


By studying hundreds of brain scans, U-M researchers identify abnormalities common to people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder.





					labblog.uofmhealth.org
				




“This is not some deep dark problem of behavior – OCD is a medical problem, and not anyone’s fault. With brain imaging we can study it just like heart specialists study EKGs of their patients – and we can use that information to improve care and the lives of people with OCD.”


----------



## Daniel (Mar 20, 2021)

source


----------



## Daniel (Mar 20, 2021)

“If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.” —Eckhart Tolle


----------



## Daniel (Mar 20, 2021)

"Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything
that isn't you -- all of the expectations, all of the beliefs -- and becoming who you are."

~  Rachel Naomi Remen, posted by @Cat Dancer


----------



## Daniel (Mar 20, 2021)

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself."

~ Saint Francis de Sales, posted by @Cat Dancer


----------



## Daniel (Mar 22, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Mar 27, 2021)

“The deep meta-message of CBT is that you can behave differently, even in the presence of these thoughts. And that’s very helpful.”

~ Steven Hayes


----------



## Daniel (Mar 29, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Mar 30, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Apr 1, 2021)

International OCD Foundation | Low Cost Treatment Options for OCD
					


We are lucky enough to live in a period of time in which effective and evidence-based treatment methods for OCD and related disorders exist. Through Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, medication, and a combination of both, symptoms of OCD can be reduced so greatly that they no longer...





					iocdf.org


----------



## Daniel (Apr 4, 2021)

6 Questions to Ask When Worries Arise
					


Determining whether “worry” is helping or getting in our way





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




_*Am I trying to solve a problem or avoid uncertainty? *_We worry about a lot of things because we want to make the world certain. Yet this is not actually possible (a challenging reality we are all contending with during this pandemic). Although we seek certainty as a way of feeling more safe and secure, unfortunately, this often backfires. The more time and effort we invest into trying to find certainty in the uncertain, the more frustrated, helpless, and discouraged we become. When we notice this pattern, *we can begin instead to focus on accepting uncertainty and turn our attention to the areas where we do have control (in other words, the actions we choose to take).*


----------



## Daniel (Apr 7, 2021)

OCD vs. GAD and How to Tell the Difference​
...Some more recently developed CBT techniques can be applied with equal value to both OCD and GAD. These newer techniques, such as _Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) _and _Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)_, are often described as Mindfulness Based CBT, or “third wave” CBT. These approaches are grounded on the premise that unpleasant thoughts and feelings are a normal part of the human experience, and that trying to control them actually makes them worse. This _“third wave” _approach focuses instead on accepting the presence of unwanted thoughts and feelings, without making an effort to reduce or eliminate them...


----------



## Daniel (Apr 11, 2021)

_Healing from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Mindfulness-Enhanced CBT Approach to Regaining Control and Restoring Peace of Mind_


----------



## Daniel (Apr 25, 2021)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/10/11/what-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-does-to-a-young-mind-when-it-grows-unchecked/
		


Students with OCD may appear to be daydreaming, distracted, disinterested, or even lazy. They may seem unfocused and unable to concentrate. But they are really very busy focusing on their nagging urges or confusing, stressful, and sometimes terrifying OCD thoughts and images.


----------



## Daniel (Apr 30, 2021)

OCD and Loneliness: Causes and Coping Strategies
					


Many people self-isolate to manage OCD symptoms, but this can lead to loneliness and depression. Help is available.





					psychcentral.com
				




OCD can be a tormenting, disabling disorder, and nobody should have to deal with it alone. There is no legitimate reason not to ask for help.


----------



## Daniel (May 13, 2021)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbl.30519?casa_token=_8du2wfYe1QAAAAA%3AvcyiDrDKniblvU-I92QW1ZCidtFto9z8EdRIv9TDJIK7SocJhpE3npVS7nLfnbeqzknqRZltWA6bSws
		


General uncertainty exposures may be a good starting point for both patients and their families before pushing on more ingrained obsessions/compulsions. It may be particularly good practice for parents in setting the precedence for nonprovision of reassurance.


----------



## Daniel (May 16, 2021)

International OCD Foundation | 25 Tips for Succeeding in Your OCD Treatment
					


Lisez cet article en français! by Fred Penzel, PhD Psychologist/Executive Director; Western Suffolk Psychological Services IOCDF Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board Member This article was initially published in the Summer...  Read more »





					iocdf.org
				




Remember that OCD was known as the Doubting Disease, and it will try to cast doubt on anything that is important to you.


----------



## David Baxter PhD (May 16, 2021)

Daniel said:


> Remember that OCD was known as the Doubting Disease, and it will try to cast doubt on anything that is important to you.



Exactly! This is the key, one of the fundamentals of OCD. Think of it as The Spoiler. Those intrusive OCD thoughts will try to ruin anything and everything for you, especially those things that are most important to you, your self-image and self-esteem, and your well-being.

It is a dreadful entity. Like that psychopathic critical classmate at school, or work mate, or that mean family member who just always has to put you down and is never happy until s/he has upset you. That OCD voice is just a horrible, mean, terrible person whose main goal is to make you unhappy.


----------



## Daniel (May 17, 2021)

Out Beyond Ideas​by Rumi

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make any sense.


----------



## Daniel (May 17, 2021)

NEJM Journal Watch: Summaries of and commentary on original medical and scientific articles from key medical     journals
					


NEJM Journal Watch reviews over 250 scientific and medical journals to present important clinical research findings and insightful commentary





					www.jwatch.org
				




Patients with OCD often report a “fear of losing control” over their thoughts and actions, despite appearing calm and collected to outside observers. This ability to go on with day-to-day actions, despite internal chaos, leads many individuals with OCD to suffer in silence. Here, the discordant results between self-reported impulsivity and objective impulsivity showcase the dichotomy between internal experiences and external expression in people with OCD. This might help explain the fear of acting out (e.g., self-harm, harming others, unwanted sexual acts, violation of religious rules, immoral behavior) in individuals with OCD, despite their lack of history of acting in these ways. These study results can help clinicians *reassure patients with OCD that their concern for acting impulsively is actually a subjective experience rather than an objective risk.*


----------



## Daniel (May 17, 2021)

Amazon.ca : The Man Who Couldnt Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought
		


Adam, an editor at _Nature_ and an accomplished science writer, has suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder for twenty years, and _The Man Who Couldn't Stop_ is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences....At what point does a harmless idea, a snowflake in a clear summer sky, become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients and their treatments, this is a book that will challenge the way you think about what is normal and what is mental illness.


----------



## Daniel (May 17, 2021)

Treating Severe OCD Video
					


Anxiety disorder expert Reid Wilson employs a paradoxical CBT approach to treating obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in these live therapy sessions.





					www.psychotherapy.net
				






"OCD lives in people who cannot tolerate uncertainty about that theme...We need to do the opposite of that...OCD only lives in you if you respond "properly.""


----------



## Daniel (May 18, 2021)

Live webinar by the ADAA on May 20th (cost is $10 but recorded version will apparently be free):






						Mindfulness Based CBT to Move Past Intrusive Thought OCD | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA
					


Mindfulness can be a helpful tool to understand and manage intrusive thoughts. In this webinar, Drs. Kissen & Greene will share tips and tools to apply mindfulness to these thoughts. Doing so will help you reduce anxiety and cope with the thoughts in a healthy way.





					adaa.org
				




Intrusive thoughts can create intense anxiety and lead to rumination for those who suffer from them. Mindfulness can be a helpful tool to understand and manage intrusive thoughts. Drs. Kissen & Greene will share tips and tools to apply mindfulness to these thoughts. Doing so will help you reduce anxiety and cope with the thoughts in a healthy way.  Mindfulness-based CBT for intrusive thoughts will teach you to view the thoughts with a nonjudgmental, acceptance-based stance.

The webinar is the second of a two-part series and it is recommended that you watch part one prior to watching part two.


----------



## Daniel (May 22, 2021)

Metacognition and episodic memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder - PubMed 

Wells (2000, 2005, 2007) has suggested meta-cognitive therapeutic strategies that are expected to reduce self-focused attention and the need to control one’s own thoughts (‘‘detached mindfulness’’). On the basis of our findings one could propose: If (meta-)cognitive therapy succeeds in reducing cognitive self- consciousness it should be able to simultaneously diminish both obsessive-compulsive symptoms and verbal memory problems in OCD.


----------



## Daniel (May 28, 2021)

The OCD In Us All: Study Finds Almost Everyone Has Intrusive Thoughts
					


A study finds that virtually everyone has unwanted, intrusive thoughts typical of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The difference tends to be how frequently they occur and how much they upset the person thinking them.





					www.wbur.org
				




"OCD patients experience these thoughts more often and are more upset by them, but the thoughts themselves seem to be indistinguishable from those occurring in the general population. We're more similar than we are different."


----------



## Daniel (May 28, 2021)

Adult Attachment Style, Obsessive-Compulsiveness, and Response to a Stressful Situation
					


Nicole Hall, Ethan Smith, Jacob Linders and Tirso Aquino





					medium.com
				




In order to prevent future obsessive-compulsiveness in their children, parents could utilize strategies to make their relationship with their newborn or infant more secure. Regarding treatment of OCD, clinicians could try to reduce avoidance in their patients. *Knowing one’s attachment style could generally help people be aware of their predisposition to be obsessive-compulsive. *Finally, the study’s findings stress the importance of openness, closeness, and empathy in romantic, platonic, and familial relationships.










						(PDF) Adult attachment representations and obsessive compulsive phenomena
					


PDF | Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCd) is one of the most disabling and highly prevalent anxiety disorders. Cognitive models implicate maladaptive... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate





					www.researchgate.net
				




Cognitive models implicate maladaptive beliefs such as inflated sense of responsibility, perfectionism, importance/control of thoughts in the maintenance of the disorder, but little research has investigated factors that may lead to these beliefs. this paper investigated whether a dysfunctional attachment system may be one such factor, by examining how adult attachment orientations (dimensions of attachment anxiety and avoidance) relate to OCD-related cognitions, OCD symptoms, and depression. Using structural equation modeling in a student sample (N = 446), the present study found evidence for a mediational model, where *attachment dimensions contributed to OCD symptoms via OCD-related cognitions*, while controlling for depression.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 2, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Jun 12, 2021)

Treating incompleteness in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analytic review​October 2018

• *CBT for OCD insufficiently targets incompleteness (INC) symptoms.*

• INC improves significantly but modestly in CBT, with small-to-medium effects.

• Tailoring treatments and the measure of INC used moderate the degree of INC change.

• Compared to harm avoidance, INC may be poorly understood, identified, and targeted.

• Randomized trials evaluating tailored and alternative treatments for INC are needed.


For cognitive interventions, Summerfeldt (2007) proposes altering subjective appraisals of INC feelings as unbearable or causing un-controllable discomfort, including a focus on reframing, reattributing, and relabeling the sensations. *INC sensations might be reframed, for instance, as **false messages from the brain**, *a phenomenon universally experienced and not inherently problematic, *or a mere incongruence between reality and one's desired perceptual state. *In one case study, for instance, the therapist focuses on restructuring the meaning of INC feelings related to asymmetry, reviewing how symmetry is neither “inherently good [nor] bad” but, rather, “perceived one way or theother depending on how the viewer thinks about it” (Timpano et al.,2016). In addition, the finding that only certain cognitive distortions are implicated in INC OCD suggests that CT for INC might include a *greater emphasis on acceptance, mindfulness, and enhancing tolerance of uncertainty and imperfection than traditional CT for OCD, and less of a focus on correcting distorted beliefs about responsibility and the importance of thoughts *(Bragdon & Coles, 2017)


----------



## Daniel (Jun 12, 2021)

OCD as a Stopping Problem
					


When Too Much Is Not Enough: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as a Pathology of Stopping, Rather than Starting January 26, 2012  Background  In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), individuals feel compelled to repeatedly perform security-related behaviors, even though these behaviours seem...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




These results are the first to show that OCD is characterized by a reduced ability of security-related behavior to terminate motivation evoked by potential danger, rather than a heightened initial sensitivity to potential threat...

Manipulation of compulsive behavior patterns and their negative-feedback function may offer new avenues for treatment. The basic idea would be to develop techniques to teach, or compensate for the weakness of, the security-satiety or stop signal. For example, some work suggests that hypnotic suggestions [73] and biofeedback [42], [43] can either block or attenuate confidence in internal signals. Hence, it is possible that such techniques can also be used to intensify or enhance the internal stop signal. Pharmacological interventions might also be developed for such enhancement.

Citing Articles


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Jun 13, 2021)

> These results are the first to show that OCD is characterized by a reduced ability of security-related behavior to terminate motivation evoked by potential danger, rather than a heightened initial sensitivity to potential threat...



Excellent and in my opinion very accurate description and recharacterization of the problem as one of *stopping* cognitive and emotional responses to perceived, predicted, or imagined threat rather than the initial response, which is often (usually?) quite normal. It's the inability to let go of the recurring and self-reinforcing reactions that creates the problem for OCD sufferers.

For some, distraction works but this can be difficult.

For some, various thought-stopping techniques may work but again this can be difficult.

For others, venting ("emptying the mind of the thoughts") can work but it's tricky because the same process can reinforce and retrigger the reactions.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 19, 2021)

Inference-based therapy - Wikipedia
					







					en.wikipedia.org
				


The goal of inference-based therapy is to reorient clients towards trusting the senses and relating to reality in a normal, non-effortful way.  Differences between normal and obsessional doubts are presented, and clients are encouraged to use their senses and reasoning as they do in non-obsessive-compulsive disorder situations. The exact moment where client cross over from reality to a possibility is identified, and clients are invited to go back to reality, use their senses, and tolerate the void of trusting the senses rather than enacting compulsive behaviors.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 21, 2021)

A process that can throw light on the so-called ‘fear of self’ in obsessive-compulsive disorder: the Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations | Rivista di Psichiatria
					


La Rivista di Psichiatria rappresenta uno dei più antichi fogli di approfondimento scientifico sui temi della Psichiatria del nostro Paese. Con cadenza bimestrale, si articola in ...





					www.rivistadipsichiatria.it
				




In recent years, to better understand the psychopathology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), increasing attention has been paid to the so-called ‘fear of self’, that is the fear of people with OCD of housing in their inner unacceptable aspects of Self. However, the exact dynamics of the phenomenon is still unclear: to better clarify it, a specific psychological process, termed Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations (RIMI), will be described here. When a patient with OCD evaluates his/her inner experience (thought, emotion, imagery, etc.) or own behavior in some way as unacceptable, he/she will identify in a retrospective way the alleged negative motivations/inclinations which would have been the source of that experience or behavior. RIMI, not only helps to better understand ‘Fear of Self’, but has also important implications for the therapy.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 29, 2021)

Examining the Differential Diagnosis Between OCD and PTSD Fact Sheet      



Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are first-line pharmacological treatment for both OCD and PTSD, though second-line pharmacological treatments and augmentation differ between the 2 disorders.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 29, 2021)

Barriers to OCD treatment for the LGBTQ community | International OCD Foundation
					


by Chris Trondsen, AMFT Finding effective treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can be difficult for many individuals, especially for those living in rural areas and in countries with few...  Read more »





					iocdf.org
				




The OCD community is leaning away from emphasizing that being queer is the “worst case scenario” for straight individuals obsessing over their sexual orientation. This often left members of the LGBTQ community feeling as if their identity is someone else’s “worst nightmare.” Now, advocates, affirming therapists, and others in the community will instead focus on straight people accepting the uncertainty around the obsessions involving their sexual orientation instead of treating being queer as a worst-case scenario.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 29, 2021)

Recognizing OCD At Work | International OCD Foundation
					


by Katherine Jahangiri A few years ago, I was a manager at a tech company — a sector known for pushing the envelope in innovation but falling behind in neurodiversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. I was sitting in a meeting when my then-supervisor lamented about a family member’s struggle...





					iocdf.org
				




How OCD shows up is not one-size-fits-all. For example, I once had a therapist tell me that _“OCD has its hand in reality”_ because the obsessions can come from a place that’s both relatable and understandable by most people. In other words, someone without OCD may have similar thoughts; however, the defining marker is how their presence interferes with a person’s daily life.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 8, 2021)

An in vivo study of compulsions
					


Leading models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) assume that compulsions are enacted to neutralize distress over obsessions. However, lab-based r…





					www.sciencedirect.com
				




Compulsion goals were often framed in ways that rendered them impossible and unverifiable (“get rid of all the germs”) rather than harm avoidance or distress reduction...One of the most important compulsion goals was to avoid being held responsible for harm by others...It may be helpful in treatment to identify and address compulsion goals.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 8, 2021)

APA PsycNet
					







					psycnet.apa.org
				









"...to address _dysfunctional emotional beliefs_, expressed as _"I don't believe it's true, but I feel it's true."_  We hypothesize that in order to access and modify or mollify (make less salient, harsh, or destructive) a schema in treatment, the patient must become able to emotionally experience as well as to cognitively reflect upon its contents."


----------



## Daniel (Sep 2, 2021)

Investigational and Experimental Drugs to Treat Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
					


Treatment-resistance is a frequent condition for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Over the past decades, a lot of effort has been made to address this issue, and several augmentation strategies of serotonergic drugs have been investigated. Antidopaminergic ...





					www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
				




Probiotics can help in regulating the human immunological system and the brain through the so-called “microbiota-gut-brain axis” (the set of hormonal, immunological, and neural connections between the brain and the gut-microbiota). A putative role of the microbiota-gut-brain axis has already been suggested for several psychiatric disorders (depression, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and post-traumatic stress disorder)....

Interestingly, a recent Canadian study was the first to show that adult OCD patients have less richness/evenness of gut microbiota compared to control...According to our research on clinicaltrials.gov (mid-September 2020), there is an ongoing trial on the probiotic formula Lactobacillus Helveticus and Bifidobacterium Longum (two probiotic agents that showed anxiolytic properties on human studies).


----------



## Daniel (Sep 2, 2021)

Rachel – OCD & Identity | OCD-UK
					







					www.ocduk.org
				




Who am I without OCD?
If I didn’t suffer with it, would I still be me?

OCD is horrible and takes control of me,
but I’ve lived with it for so long,
I feel like it’s part of me.

I often feel angry and question why me?
Why do I have to suffer from OCD?

But I’m starting to realise that I am me,
and never have been nor will be my OCD.
It’s separate from who I am,
and does not determine me.

I have beliefs and traits that make me one of a kind,
I am not determined by the mental illness in my mind.

*Please remember your OCD is not a permanent part of you or who you will become,
you’re not your mental illness,
you are someone.*


----------



## Daniel (Sep 7, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Sep 7, 2021)




----------



## Daniel (Sep 7, 2021)

Source:  OCD Tips of the Day


----------



## Daniel (Sep 13, 2021)

Mindfulness, Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms, and Executive Dysfunction - Cognitive Therapy and Research
					


Recent investigations have included mindfulness as a component of intervention for OCD. However, the extent to which processes underlying OCD interfere with mindfulness has not been examined. Limited research has examined neuropsychological functions as mechanisms to explain different levels of...





					link.springer.com
				




Teaching patients to change their relationship to their obsessive thoughts by decentering from them—as opposed to trying to modify the frequency or content of the thoughts—is an interventional technique that is more likely to promote acceptance and nonjudgment than traditional CBT with ERP. Previous investigations have successfully used such a technique to help those with OCD symptoms (Twohig et al. 2006; Wilkinson-Tough et al. 2010).


----------



## Daniel (Sep 20, 2021)

How Can We Distinguish Focus from Obsession?
					


Three Signs to Distinguish Focus from Obsession by Evan Hadkins CounsellingResource.com March 31, 2009  What is the difference between a focus and an obsession? Here are three signs that might help distinguish one from the other.  The Virtues of Focus  It seems that the virtues of focus are...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




Obsession is when we spend so much of our energy blocking out other needs that we can no longer function. Our attention tends to be captured by events around us. Though we focus on one thing there are parts of us ‘keeping an ear out’ for other things. The most common example is hearing our name at a party. A more serious example is our becoming rapidly aware of a danger that we hadn’t noticed when driving.

This kind of exclusion of everything else is a kind of ‘trance’. Therapeutic hypnosis uses this kind of state. So perhaps being obsessed for a brief time can be therapeutic.

It seems to me that while we may not be able to come up with hard and fast rules to distinguish a focus from an obsession, we can probably formulate some signs to look for. It seems to me that there are at least three:

Does what I’m doing get in the way of what I am hoping to achieve? If so: am I willing to stop doing it? If not, why not?


Do I spend a lot of my energy fighting off distractions to what I want to do? Is it taking me so much time and energy to persist that I am exhausted and neglecting other needs?


Do I, in some way, feel or believe that if I get or do this one thing then everything will be OK? (This may be true depending on the situation and what it is, but I think it’s useful to question it.


----------



## Daniel (Oct 3, 2021)

Facets of adult attachment style in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder
					


Literature data did not show univocal evidence in discriminating which form of attachment insecurity is involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD…





					www.sciencedirect.com
				




Higher need of approval was the most important predictor of OCD diagnosis beyond the other attachment facets, and even of the obsessive beliefs.

The interpersonal dynamics related to attachment in OCD patients should be carefully considered during assessment and treatment of OCD patients in clinical practice.


----------



## Daniel (Oct 29, 2021)

Recommendations for Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
					


Best Practices for Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Primary Care Setting by Laurie Barclay, MD August 24, 2009    Recommendations for diagnosing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the primary care setting are reviewed in the August 1 issue of American Family Physician...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




Although treatment rarely cures the patient with OCD, significant symptomatic relief is achievable. Reasonable goals for treatment would be to spend less than 1 hour per day on obsessive-compulsive behaviors, causing minimal interference with daily activities...

Because OCD is a chronic condition with a high rate of relapse, treatment should be discontinued only with caution. Patients with OCD should be carefully monitored to detect possible comorbid depression and suicidal ideation...

Before attempting discontinuation of SSRIs, patients should take these drugs for at least 1 to 2 years...


----------



## Daniel (Nov 3, 2021)

A New Way to Understand—and Possibly Treat—OCD
					


People with the disorder seem to have a more flexible “sense of self”





					www.scientificamerican.com
				




People diagnosed with OCD appear to have a more malleable “sense of self,” or brain-based “self-representation” or “body image”—the feeling of being anchored here and now in one’s body—than those without the disorder. This finding suggests new ways to treat OCD and perhaps unexpected insights into how our brain creates a distinction between “self” and “other.”

OCD is a perplexing condition that blurs the boundary between mind and body, reality and illusion. One may have to fool the brain to overcome the condition—combating one illusion with another.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 4, 2021)

Inference-based therapy - Wikipedia
					







					en.wikipedia.org
				




According to inference-based therapy, obsessional thinking occurs when the person replaces reality and real probabilities with imagined possibilities...Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder attempt to resolve the doubt by modifying reality (via compulsions and neutralizations) which merely increase the imaginary pathological doubt rather than resolve it since reality is not the problem...

The goal of inference-based therapy is to reorient clients towards trusting the senses and relating to reality in a normal, non-effortful way.  Differences between normal and obsessional doubts are presented, and clients are encouraged to use their senses and reasoning as they do in non-obsessive-compulsive disorder situations. The exact moment where client cross over from reality to a possibility is identified, and clients are invited to go back to reality, use their senses, and tolerate the void of trusting the senses rather than enacting compulsive behaviors.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 4, 2021)

A role for the precuneus in thought–action fusion: Evidence from participants with significant obsessive–compulsive symptoms
					


Likelihood thought–action fusion (TAF-L) refers to a cognitive bias in which individuals believe that the mere thought of a negative event increases its likelihood of occurring in reality. TAF-L is most commonly associated with obsessive–compulsive ...





					www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
				




Likelihood thought–action fusion (TAF-L) refers to a cognitive bias in which individuals believe that the mere thought of a negative event increases its likelihood of occurring in reality...

The precuneus has been implicated in risk avoidance...and has been found to activate when participants focus on their duties and obligations rather than hopes and aspirations (Johnson et al., 2006). Further, Johnson et al. (2006) found that participants' duties and obligations had a greater number of references to other people than their hopes and aspirations, supporting a link responsibility to prevent harm coming to others rather than oneself.  Perhaps the most compelling support for the role of the precuneus in TAF comes from the recent studies...They found that in an other-vs-self comparison, greater precuneus and posterior cingulate activity was present when participants imagined being the cause of harm to another person. Similarly, Cabanis et al. (2012) found precuneus activation related to the process of attributing causes to the self.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 4, 2021)

Believing is seeing: an fMRI study of thought-action fusion in healthy male adults - Brain Imaging and Behavior
					


Thought-action fusion (TAF) is a tendency of individuals to establish causal relations between their own thoughts and external reality. TAF can lead to maladaptive behaviors typically observed in obsessional thoughts. However, neural mechanisms underlying TAF are still unknown. In this study, 38...





					link.springer.com
				




Our results suggest that visual association areas may play a primary role in the TAF [thought-action fusion] response. The simple belief and visual imagery that one’s thought may lead to someone’s injury activated visual association areas where brain activity, in turn, is associated with feelings of guilt. We believe these results provide biological clues about TAF and subsequent affective response such as guilt.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 4, 2021)

The Expanded Version of the Inferential Confusion Questionnaire: Further Development and Validation in Clinical and Non-Clinical Samples - Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment
					


The current study represents the further development and validation of an expanded version of the Inferential Confusion Questionnaire (ICQ-EV) in non-clinical and clinical samples. Inferential confusion seems to be particularly relevant to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and is defined as a...





					link.springer.com
				



​Inferential Confusion Questionnaire—Expanded Version​


----------



## Daniel (Nov 5, 2021)

Recent Developments and Mechanisms of Change -  ppt download
					


Symposium Presentations Review of the Inference Based Approach to Treatment of OCD Kieron O'Connor, Frederick Aardema Results of an Open Trial Investigating an Inference-Based Approach to OCD across Symptom Subtypes and Treatment Resistant Cases Frederick Aardema, Kieron O'Connor Inference-Based...




					slideplayer.com
				




The inference-based approach (IBA) was developed with the central notion that obsessions can be held at varying levels degrees of belief and realism by the patient with OCD.

In particular, if obsessions are held to be highly valid and realistic then these obsessions often resemble overvalued ideation or delusional-like beliefs.

The treatment target of IBA is the initial obsessional doubt or belief rather than its appraisal.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 5, 2021)

Why Sometimes No Amount of Reassurance Is Enough – New Harbinger Publications, Inc
					


By Martin N. Seif, PhD, and Sally M. Winston, PhD, coauthors of Needing to Know for Sure When confronted with uncertainty, it is natural to seek some





					www.newharbinger.com
				




There are three processes that make uncertainty feel so intolerable: anxious thinking distorts risk assessment; paradoxical effort makes attempts to eliminate uncertainty work backwards; and negative reinforcement drives the cycle.

It may not be obvious, but certainty is a feeling, not a fact. If you think about it, no one can be absolutely sure about anything. Here is an illustration: Does your car have a flat tire right now? How can you be certain? How long since you checked? Could something have happened since then? Actually, you only feel sure of your answer. 

The key is that unproductive reassurance-seeking is an attempt to feel sure, to abolish all doubts, to establish certainty as a fact. Yet absolute certainty is unattainable and unnecessary to make decisions, evaluate choices, and take actions. Anxious people can get caught up in doubts about anything, including one’s own motives, identity, health, and sanity (as well as those of others). There are no guarantees possible about the future. Refraining from needless reassurance is easier when there is a shift in attitude, a willingness to feel uncertainty, and the acceptance of doubt and its discomforts...

In _Needing to Know for Sure_, we introduce a four-step program for breaking out of this trap and learning to tolerate reasonable uncertainty in your life. The four mindful steps are: 1) Distinguish doubts or distress from true danger; 2) Embrace the feeling of uncertainty; 3) Avoid reassurance; and 4) Float above the feeling while letting more time pass. You can remember these steps as DEAF, and these steps work independently of the content of your worrisome, doubting thoughts.

People can learn to become DEAF to the beckoning of a reassurance trap and the anxiety-producing bullies in their mind. They can turn a DEAF ear to the false alarm signals that are crying, “Emergency! You need to check this out right now!” It can teach your brain that thoughts are just thoughts, and that doubt is part of every decision and judgment you make, and is both inevitable and unavoidable.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 6, 2021)

Account Suspended
		


Despite many people thinking that being too easy on themselves will lead to them straying from their goals, extensive research shows that it is self-compassion, not self-criticism, that is the best motivator...

People who tend to be self-critical...have a higher tendency to shut down or inhibit themselves from taking steps forward.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 6, 2021)

The role of reassurance seeking in obsessive compulsive disorder: the associations between reassurance seeking, dysfunctional beliefs, negative emotions, and obsessive- compulsive symptoms - BMC Psychiatry
					


Background This study investigates the association of reassurance seeking with obsessive compulsive (OC) symptoms, dysfunctional beliefs, and negative emotions. Methods Reassurance Seeking Questionnaire, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire, Trait Anger Expression...





					bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com
				




Feelings of guilt increased with increasing intensity of reassurance seeking.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=421c3199-81eb-434d-b179-58b409921be4%40redis&bdata=JmF1dGh0eXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=103010835
		


In Outpatient Morita Therapy, emotions are "universalized" as anxiety while desires are acknowledged as being part of human nature. Through the process of exerting desire for life, acceptance of anxiety is facilitated.

In ACT, values are discussed formally to find several specific areas of valued behaviors. Outpatient Morita Therapy, in contrast, aims to abandon the focus on values while targeting the desire for life to be nurtured and exerted.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

(PDF) Moral judgments in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a narrative mini-review
					


PDF | Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent mental disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ensuing rituals... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate





					www.researchgate.net
				




Abnormal moral judgments in OCD are due to executive dysfunctions. These dysfunctions include impaired cognitive control resulting in the domination of strong, uncontrolled emotional responses, impaired cognitive flexibility resulting in the inability to switch between aspects of a scenario, and decreased capacity and overload of working memory and its inability to resist the interfering information...

Disobeying moral norms results in the abnormal feeling of deontological guilt ["guilt originating from the violation of a rule"] in OC patients, to which these patients are highly sensitive...

Contributing to abnormal moral judgments in OCD is known to be the abnormal feeling of disgust for moral violations and immoral unwanted intrusive thoughts, which is regarded as one of the major causes of OCD symptoms. Finally, the abnormal fear of responsibility and being criticized due to not acting morally is regarded as one of the primary impairments contributing to the abnormal moral judgments in OCD.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

Morita therapy - Wikipedia
					







					en.wikipedia.org
				



Morita therapy directs one's attention receptively to what reality brings in each moment—a focus on the present, avoiding intellectualising. Simple seeing what is (without judging), allows for active responding to what needs doing.

---------------------









						Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder cases with a Good Prognosis which Underwent CBT and Morita Therapy | Semantic Scholar
					


Moritatherapy was found by Shoma Morita in 1919 in Japan and is psychotherapy for anxiety disorders based on Eastern psychology and effective for OCD patients who reject exposure and who are inclined to intellectualize their emotions. Moritatherapy was found by Shoma Morita in 1919 in Japan and...





					www.semanticscholar.org
				




Morita therapy is effective for OCD patients who reject exposure and who are inclined to intellectualize their emotions.

---------------------

Acceptance and commitment therapy - Wikipedia

Some published empirical studies in clinical psychology have argued that ACT is not different from other interventions. Stefan Hofmann argued that ACT is similar to the much older Morita therapy.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

Morita Therapy and Japanese Psychology
					


Morita Therapy is both a practical and deeply spiritual approach to human wellbeing. It offers new insights into anxiety and sensitivity.





					eggshelltherapy.com
				




According to Sartre, we must always choose, notwithstanding the ambiguity and uncertainty of the future. If we waited to be sure about what to do about the problems of everyday living, we would never act. Moreover, according to Sartre, there are no hard-and-fast standards that can save us from the inevitability of having to choose in the face of uncertainty. If we are stuck in ‘analysis- paralysis,' we would have decided by indecision, and we give up our creative power as intelligent humans.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

“The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.” 

―    Alfred Adler


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2021)

"The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked. When you have gained that courage, your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness."

“Suppose you have placed “doubt” at the foundation of your interpersonal relations. That you live your life doubting other people—doubting your friends and even your family and those you love. What sort of relationship could possibly arise from that? The other person will detect the doubt in your eyes in an instant. He or she will have an instinctive understanding that “this person does not have confidence in me.” Do you think one would be able to build some kind of positive relationship from that point? It is precisely because we lay a foundation of unconditional confidence that it is possible for us to build a deep relationship.”

  ―      Ichiro Kishimi,  _The Courage to Be Disliked_


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Nov 8, 2021)

Daniel said:


> "The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked. When you have gained that courage, your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness."



Interestingly, this is one of the great advantages of getting older. For me, I still want to make efforts to understand and comfort other people and I do try not to offend them unnecessarily but at the same time I'm not going to take any crap from anyone. I honestly don't care any more whether or not people dislike me — I would prefer that they like me but I know that not everyone will and I am honestly not disturbed or upset when someone doesn't like me. In my youth, I would have pretended not to care; now I really don't care.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 1, 2021)

A cognitive dissonance perspective on threats to self-concept in obsessive-compulsive disorder
					


Cognitive-behavioral models of OCD and models of cognitive dissonance have converged in emphasizing how intrusive or dissonant thoughts conflict with …





					www.sciencedirect.com
				




The integrated fear of self model proposes that threat to self-concept, along with other cognitive factors, may be an active generator of intrusions through hypervigilance to self-threats. The impact of fear of self contrasts with the traditional concepts of cognitive appraisal models of vulnerability to OCD, in which one has passive weak spots for misappraising spontaneous intrusive content in certain sensitive areas (Doron & Kyrios, 2005; Doron et al., 2007).


----------



## Daniel (Dec 10, 2021)

Revealing the absurdity of OCD | International OCD Foundation
					


by Ross This story is part of our blog series called “Stories from the OCD Community.”  Stories from the community are submitted and edited by Toni Palombi. If you are...  Read more »





					iocdf.org
				




OCD attacks the things which are dearest to us — that’s why it’s so distressing. OCD sufferers are almost always morally scrupulous; we are torn apart by the obsessions because they are contrary to what we believe. Try to remember that. You’re not what you think, and you’re certainly not what you fear.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 25, 2021)

OCD Obsessions Often Come with Physical Sensations
					


Researchers are starting to understand the link between OCD and a certain kind of unreal sensory experience.





					www.livescience.com
				




The link between sensations and OCD has a lot of potential for treatment. If strong sensations make OCD symptoms more difficult to control, perhaps treatments based on redirecting those sensations — which are already in the early phases of research — could help patients better control their compulsions.


----------



## Daniel (Dec 26, 2021)

Those Damn Unwanted Thoughts!
					


Those Damn Unwanted Thoughts! By Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D. Psychology Today blog: Anxiety Files    June 1, 2009  Have you ever felt plagued by thoughts and images that you just couldn't stand? Perhaps it's the nagging thought, "I made a mistake" or "I think I have cancer" or "I'm going to lose...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




"It's like trying to run away from your hips. No matter how fast you run, they're always there."

~ Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., author of _Don't Believe Everything You Feel_


----------



## Daniel (Dec 31, 2021)

Daniel said:


> Adult Attachment Style, Obsessive-Compulsiveness, and Response to a Stressful Situation
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Similarly:









						Attachment in patients with an obsessive compulsive disorder - PubMed
					


Anxious attachment is common in patients with OCD and interconnects with primary OCD symptomatology. From this perspective, strategies that promote feelings of safety, acceptance, and appreciation within a therapeutic relationship may be essential in treating OCD.





					pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
				




Anxious attachment is common in patients with OCD and interconnects with primary OCD symptomatology. From this perspective, strategies that promote feelings of safety, acceptance, and appreciation within a therapeutic relationship may be essential in treating OCD.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 7, 2022)

Key Cognitive Errors in OCD
					


CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) involves actively challenging and confronting the distorted thinking and beliefs that drive and maintain obsessions and compulsions. Below are the key cognitive errors of people with OCD.   Black-and-White or All-or Nothing Thinking Example: "If I’m not...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




*Reasoning-Logic based on emotions.* Are your conclusions about a   situation based more on your strong emotions and less on actual fact?   Are you confusing a feeling as evidence of a fact because that’s what   the OCD is telling you? Do you say to yourself “I’m feeling anxious;   therefore, this situation must be dangerous” or “I’m feeling guilt;   therefore, I must have done something bad?”


----------



## Daniel (Jan 7, 2022)

The Hidden Silver Linings of OCD to Help You Thrive
					


For people with OCD, the diagnosis isn’t all bad. There are some upsides of having OCD—probably ones you’ve never realized.





					pulsetms.com
				




Some people deal with mild OCD, where their symptoms come and go randomly. Others deal with serious OCD, which is present on a daily basis and prohibits them from doing normal things, like hold a job and casually run errands. In fact, over 50% of adults who are diagnosed with OCD have a severe impairment.

Based on that data, you would assume that having OCD is a negative thing. But while OCD can be incredibly debilitating, it’s not all bad. Living with OCD can give you various advantages in certain areas of your life. Recognizing those advantages can change your mindset about having OCD and help you see the positive side effects...

People who have OCD are usually *very attentive and have great attention to detail*. This trait can be useful in a number of different situations—in school, at work, while doing creative hobbies, and so on. In fact, most people go through life on autopilot, and attention to detail often falls by the wayside.


----------



## Daniel (Jan 9, 2022)

“When in doubt, ignore and be horribly unimpressed.” 

―    Laurell. K. Hamilton


----------



## Daniel (Apr 15, 2022)

"I’m all right, right now."


----------



## Daniel (Apr 20, 2022)

"I have been through a lot and have suffered a great deal. But I have had lots of happy moments, as well. Every moment one lives is different from the other. The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love, and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that is called life. You cannot separate the good from the bad. And perhaps there is no need to do so, either."

~ Jackie Kennedy


----------



## Daniel (Apr 21, 2022)

International OCD Foundation | 25 Tips for Succeeding in Your OCD Treatment
					


Lisez cet article en français! by Fred Penzel, PhD Psychologist/Executive Director; Western Suffolk Psychological Services IOCDF Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board Member This article was initially published in the Summer...  Read more »





					iocdf.org
				




Overall, never forget that OCD is very paradoxical and rarely makes much sense.  The things that you thought would make you better only make you worse, and the things you thought would make you worse are the very things that will make you better.


----------



## Daniel (Apr 21, 2022)

Certainty is a Feeling, Not a Fact - Joanna Hardis, LISW-S
					


“Certainty is a feeling, not a fact” is a well-known phrase among OCD and anxiety therapists, but it bears spending some time unpacking. Anyone who reads my stuff regularly knows […]





					joannahardis.com
				




"Certainty is a feeling, not a fact."


----------



## Daniel (Apr 22, 2022)




----------



## Daniel (May 27, 2022)

OCD and Anger - Chicago Counseling Center
					


OCD and Anger is a common combination. Learn more about how these two conditions play into each other from a trained therapist.





					chicagocounselingcenter.com
				




*What is the relationship between OCD and anger?*

It is important to realize that OCD is not an “anger management” issue. People with OCD are not any more or less angry than people without OCD.

It is human nature to assume that we have ultimate control over our lives. Any failure to manipulate or change our circumstances leads can lead to frustration, irritability or even anger. This is especially true with individuals with OCD, since a low tolerance for uncertainty is an inherent part of the disorder. Any patterns of anger or irritability are usually a result of extreme difficulty [to] accept the way things currently are, along with an intense conviction that things could and should be different.


----------



## Daniel (May 28, 2022)

Ruminating thoughts: How to stop them
					


Ruminating thoughts are excessive intrusive thoughts about negative experiences. They can be a symptom of an existing mental health condition or just the result of a particular instance of trauma. Read more about the causes of these thoughts and how to stop ruminating.





					www.medicalnewstoday.com
				




Spend time in nature: A 2014 study found that people who went on a 90-minute nature walk reported fewer symptoms of rumination after their walk than those who walked through an urban area instead.


----------



## Daniel (May 30, 2022)

Teletherapy providers for OCD, mostly therapists and some psychiatrists:






						International OCD Foundation | Teletherapy Providers
					







					iocdf.org


----------



## Daniel (Jun 7, 2022)




----------



## Daniel (Jun 7, 2022)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285131639_Obsessive_Compulsive_Disorder


----------



## Daniel (Jun 12, 2022)

"Compulsive drives are specifically neurotic; they are born of feelings of isolation, helplessness, fear and hostility, and represent ways of coping with the world despite these feelings; they aim primarily not at satisfaction but at safety; their compulsive character is due to the anxiety lurking behind them."

~ Karen Horney, _Our Inner Conflicts (1945)_


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Jun 14, 2022)

Daniel said:


> "Compulsive drives are specifically neurotic; *they are born of feelings of isolation, helplessness, fear and hostility1*, and represent ways of coping with the world despite these feelings; *they aim primarily not at satisfaction but at safety2; *their compulsive character is due to the anxiety lurking behind them."
> 
> ~ Karen Horney, _Our Inner Conflicts (1945)_



*1* but most OCD sufferers are not (fully) aware of this connection

*2* most OCD sufferers are away of this connection, aware that the OCD-defenses aren't working, and aware that often they are protecting themselves from something which does not exist at the moment and which may never come into existence. It's a little like fortune-telling but only on the negative aspects of the present and the future.


----------



## Daniel (Jun 14, 2022)

BTW, it's not getting any easier to learn psychodynamic therapy:



			http://karenhorney.byethost7.com/ikhs/membership/index.html
		


"I became interested in psychoanalysis while doing my psychiatric residency and eventually obtained analytic training by commuting between Phoenix and Los Angeles for about six years."


----------



## Daniel (Jun 29, 2022)

Force of Habit: A Gutsy Psychiatrist Takes on the Toughest Cases of OCD
					


Force of Habit: A Gutsy Psychiatrist Takes on the Toughest Cases of OCD By Julie Flaherty Tufts Magazine  Fall 2009  Entering a patient’s house for the first time, Michael Jenike, 67,  humors the desperate pleas to turn the door handle back and forth  repeatedly, ending on an even number, and...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




"Thinking about and analyzing your crazy thoughts—that’s like having a skin cancer and sitting around trying to analyze why it has a certain shape and color. That’s not really the point, is it? You’ve got to find a way to cut it out or deal with it.”

The best treatment, by Jenike’s lights, is calling OCD’s bluff, with some drugs to take the edge off the anxiety.


----------



## Daniel (Jul 9, 2022)

A "New Yorker" Cartoonist Untangles His OCD Through Comics - Electric Literature

"If hope can only exist when all of the questions have been answered and all of the worries have been whisked away, none of us are ever going to be able to feel any sort of hope. Being clear-eyed about tiny victories is the only hope I know."


----------



## Daniel (Jul 28, 2022)

“People who live with OCD drag a metal sea anchor around. Obsession is a break, a source of drag, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function.”

“To resist a compulsion with willpower alone is to hold back an avalanche by melting the snow with a candle. It just keeps coming and coming and coming.”

“I knew what I had to do. I had to ignore the thoughts, resist the compulsion, let the anxiety build, and then let it decay to extinction all over again.”

― David Adam, _The Man Who Couldn't Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought_


----------



## Daniel (Jul 28, 2022)

Regaining Control Over OCD in 6 Moments
					


Yes, you can change your brain.





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




"What OCD doesn’t know is that you have the power to overtake it."

~ Reid Wilson, Ph.D.










						Free Videos from OCD & the 6-Moment Game – Anxieties.com
					


OCD & the 6-Moment Game is a 4-hour self-help online course to help overcome OCD. Here are a selection of free videos derived from the course.





					anxieties.com


----------



## Daniel (Jul 30, 2022)

International OCD Foundation | What is ACT?
					


What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, What is its Effectiveness, and Should I Look Into It? by Michael Twohig, Ph.D. Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. a licensed clinical psychologist in Utah and an assistant professor at Utah State University. He received





					iocdf.org
				




ACT is based on the model that the things people think and feel, or the bodily sensations that one has are not under that person’s control in any meaningful way. But, what a person does while thinking, feeling, or experiencing a sensation is under his or her control. To illustrate this, answer these two questions:

For $1,000 could you prevent yourself from having an obsession over the next 24 hours, and
For $1,000 could you stop yourself from engaging in your compulsion(s) over the next 24 hours?
Most people would probably Experience their obsession but would find a way to avoid engaging in the compulsion(s). This exercise illustrates that while obsessions and compulsions often occur together, they are not technically tied to each other. We can experience obsessions and not engage in compulsions. Also, compulsions are much easier to control than obsessions. This is partially why ACT focuses on what one does and less so on what one thinks or feels.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 14, 2022)

How to Defeat OCD by Surrendering
					


How to Defeat OCD by Surrendering By Dr. Fred Penzel, BeyondOCD.org  Over the years, I have watched my OCD patients putting great amounts of emotional, mental, and physical energy into the struggle against their symptoms. OCD, as we know, is especially characterized by doubt, and they seemed to...




					forum.psychlinks.ca
				




"An engineer and former patient of mine found it helpful to label his frightening obsessions as synthetic thoughts. I think this is a good way to characterize them. Even if you can't label them in a helpful way, you can at least try to take it on faith that what the thoughts are telling you may not be accurate."


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Aug 14, 2022)

I used to tell my clients to treat it as an object like a train. It approaches and passes you by but you don't have to follow it. Just see it, acknowledge it, and let it go.

You can even hear the Doppler effect as it goes past you. That's okay. You see it and hear it but just let it go past you continuing on its way. 

Now its gone past you. Let it go. Now you can continue on with your day.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 19, 2022)

"No action/proxy will ever successfully eliminate obsessive doubt."

~ Lazarov et al, Attenuated Access to Emotions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder


----------



## Daniel (Aug 20, 2022)




----------



## Daniel (Aug 22, 2022)

OCD Is a Fire to Be Harnessed
					


A new way to understand a troubling disorder.





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




*Reconnecting to the Creative Fire*

I often tell my clients with OCD that our job is to remember that fire can be great as long as it is linked up correctly. Just look at a car. It is a sophisticated explosion device that has found a way to use its energy for momentum rather than destruction.

The goal of OCD treatment is to help reconnect the fire and move it from OCD thoughts and compulsion into creative momentum. In other words, it's about recognizing the underlying thoughts and feelings--even if they initially conjure up anxiety--and getting support with translating them into a better balance of respecting oneself and the people you love.

It's only then that we can see OCD not just as a nuisance, but as a messenger for linking up to our true creative purpose again.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 22, 2022)




----------



## Daniel (Aug 24, 2022)

Daniel said:


> A process that can throw light on the so-called ‘fear of self’ in obsessive-compulsive disorder: the Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations | Rivista di Psichiatria
> 
> 
> 
> ...



From another article by the same author:









						The role of the Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations in explaining obsessive beliefs | Rivista di Psichiatria
					


La Rivista di Psichiatria rappresenta uno dei più antichi fogli di approfondimento scientifico sui temi della Psichiatria del nostro Paese. Con cadenza bimestrale, si articola in ...





					www.rivistadipsichiatria.it
				




So far, the psychopathological conceptualization of OCD seems to include different levels.

Indeed, precisely at the surface of the problem, we find a first level consisting in an accurate description and definition of the phenomena: the main clinical manifestations of OCD (i.e., obsessions and compulsions), the most frequent themes of obsessions (i.e., blasphemy, sexual, contamination, etc.), the main kinds of compulsions (i.e., checking, washing, etc.) and so on.

At an intermediate level, instead, we can find more elaborated constructs as the *‘belief domains*’ described so far (exaggerated responsibility, over-importance of thoughts, etc.) that lie beyond the purely phenomenological level. These concepts are the result of an operation of abstraction performed by the observer: in fact, they are *tacit assumptions *often not spontaneously identified by the patients themselves.

Finally, at an even deeper level there can be concepts involving higher-order constructs as the construct of the *Self*. It is the case of the concept of ‘*self-ambivalence*’, in whose light some authors have tried to reread also the belief domains.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 24, 2022)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Pathology of Self-Confidence?
					


A striking change OCD patients repeatedly describe following treatment with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral anterior limb of internal caps…





					www.sciencedirect.com
				




When anxiety reduces, the person is once again open to dealing with the many other action possibilities the environment makes available. The result of this openness and readiness for the world is increased self-confidence.


----------



## Daniel (Aug 31, 2022)

"We're lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren't working. Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it's time to try something new."

~ Robert Sapolsky


"For the overcontrolled individual, their motto is “When in doubt, apply more self-control,” irrespective of circumstances or potential consequences.Overcontrolled coping persists because it gets rewarded (or reinforced), at least occasionally."

~ Thomas R. Lynch


----------



## Daniel (Sep 5, 2022)

Daniel said:


> myMCT OCD Manual (English)





			https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.2/smoritz
		


To conclude, myMCT is a promising novel program targeting common cognitive biases in OCD. Whereas those biases identified by the Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group are at its core, the program additionally incorporates other techniques (association splitting, detached mindfulness). It may not only serve as a self-help e-book, but its exercises, diagrams, and illustrations could also facilitate planning and performing psychotherapies, especially in view of increasing reports about a large number of therapists not adhering to standard therapy guidelines.


----------



## Daniel (Sep 19, 2022)

Using Hypnosis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
					


Learning how to control anxiety is a key for the treatment of OCD.





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




For patients dealing with obsessive negative thoughts for which they seek reassurance from their family members or peers, it can be very helpful to teach them how to interact with their subconscious through hypnosis. Patients can then be encouraged to ask themselves for reassurance rather than relying on others. For example, a boy who consistently asks his mother whether he will become sick can learn to calm himself by hearing reassurance from his subconscious.


----------



## Daniel (Sep 19, 2022)

Reassuringly calm? Self-reported patterns of responses to reassurance seeking in obsessive compulsive disorder​December 2015

Reassurance seeking was found to involve anxiety relief in the short term, returning in the long term; the net effect may assist day to day coping.

Telling people to stop offering reassurance to those with OCD is mostly pointless and likely to be counter-productive.


----------



## Daniel (Sep 29, 2022)

The Brain Mechanics of Rumination and Repetitive Thinking
					


What is the neuroscience behind rumination and repetitive thinking?





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




Depressive rumination can feel like you're a lab rat on a running wheel to nowhere. How can you break the cycle of negative rumination? Based on a simple split-brain "up-down" model between the cerebellum and cerebrum (which houses the sgPFC), I believe that activities that engage the cerebellum and unclamp the prefrontal cortex might be directly linked to breaking obsessive or compulsive rumination. 

Yesterday, I wrote a _Psychology Today_ blog post, "Want to Improve Your Cognitive Abilities? Go Climb a Tree!" based on a new study which found that physical activities requiring dynamic proprioception (such as climbing a tree or balancing on a beam) can increase working memory by up to 50 percent.

These findings on proprioception support my hypothesis and educated guess that engaging the cerebellum and "unclamping" the prefrontal cortex is key to improving working memory and creativity.


----------



## Daniel (Oct 8, 2022)

International OCD Foundation | Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Suicidality: Understanding the Risks
					


By Matthew C. McCann, MS, Catherine E. Bocksel, MA, Wayne K. Goodman, MD, and Eric A. Storch, PhD This article was initially published in the Spring 2017 edition of the OCD...  Read more »





					iocdf.org
				




"The presence of suicidal thoughts does not predict treatment response.  If a loved one is experiencing significant OCD and also has thoughts about suicide, existing treatments (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications) can still be very effective in achieving wellness."


----------



## Daniel (Oct 14, 2022)

*"Disillusionment can rob life of meaning. Nostalgia can help bring it back."*

*~ *Hal McDonald Ph.D.


----------



## Daniel (Oct 29, 2022)

Ask yourself: Where am I? Answer: Here.

Ask yourself: What time is it? Answer: Now.

Say it until you can hear it.

~ Ram Dass


----------



## Daniel (Nov 7, 2022)

How Does Paradoxical Intention Really Work in Therapy?
					


Paradoxical intention encourage clients to engage in their feared behavior.





					positivepsychology.com
				




While literature reviews identify only limited research that specifically mentions the use of paradoxical interventions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), some studies are available.

Early research asked OCD patients to engage in the very acts that they were most afraid of, such as handling objects perceived as dirty or using swear words. The idea was that the client did not “avoid the fearful situations or escape from the anxiety-provoking thought or event” but embraced them (Solyom et al., 1972, p. 292).

Reversing the client’s thinking – making the intruding thought the willed one – might ultimately eliminate the thought.

While often using different terms, modern therapy uses similar approaches, helping clients face their fears without trying to “fix” them. Exposure and response prevention is a type of CBT that exposes the client to the triggers (thoughts, objects, situations) that start the obsessions while choosing not to react (International OCD Foundation, n.d.).


----------



## Daniel (Nov 23, 2022)

When Reassurance Seeking Becomes Compulsive
					


Avoid the "Reassurance Trap" and tame your inner reassurance junkie.





					www.psychologytoday.com
				




In _Needing to Know for Sure_, we introduce a four-step program we call DEAF for breaking out of this trap and learning to tolerate reasonable uncertainty. The four mindful steps are: 1) Distinguish doubts or distress from true danger, 2) Embrace the feeling of uncertainty, 3) Avoid reassurance, and 4) Float above the feeling while letting more time pass.

These steps work independently of the content of the thoughts. They address the circular process maintaining the misery, regardless of what it is that has become stuck. They provide the mindful perspective that allows for including doubts while moving forward toward what matters.

Even people with sticky minds can learn to become DEAF to the beckonings of the anxiety-producing bullies of the mind, and can turn a DEAF ear to the false alarm signals crying, “Emergency! You need to check this out right now!” Any brain can learn that thoughts are just thoughts, that doubt is part of every decision, and that uncertainty—both inevitable and unavoidable—can be embraced.


----------

