OCD & Anxiety Blog
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Kristina came to couples therapy to process her relationship with Randy, her boyfriend of three years. She said that the relationship is good in general, but she can’t decide if they should get married. Kristina and Randy tried couples counselling where they worked on issues such as trust, attachment patterns, old traumas, common values and goals, intimacy, and communication.
“I don’t know if I should continue therapy,” announced Linda after spending a couple of minutes in a reflective silence at the beginning of the session. “What’s the point of all this? We all are going to die anyway.
It happened years ago. You even forgot about it for a while, until you remembered. You spent hours researching how to get rid of the shame and guilt about something you did in the past.
People tend to think about OCD as a washing, organizing, and checking disorder, the reason being is that OCD is presented this way in the media.
If you are a parent of a child who has OCD, you know only too well how easy it is to get entangled in an endless argument where you try to use logic to no avail.
Do you wonder whether you may suffer from undiagnosed OCD?
If you have OCD, you have probably read numerous blog posts and books about the treatment strategies for OCD. Maybe you even went to therapy.
Illness anxiety (formerly known as hypochondriasis and health anxiety) is a preoccupation with having or getting a serious disorder despite having no symptoms or only benign symptoms.
You have probably heard of Catfishing – online scams that take advantage of people looking for love online. The scam is very simple.
You did everything right. You researched, you asked your doctor for a recommendation, and you went to a counsellor with the goal of finally getting rid of your anxiety.
We get asked this question quite often at our OCD Clinic: “Is it possible that I have just a little bit of OCD?
As I’m stepping out of my office into the reception area to get my next patient, Michael, I can see that he is distressed.
“What’s going on?” I ask as we take our seats.
This is a question we get asked a lot at our OCD clinic: “How do I know if this thought is my OCD or if it is a ‘normal’ thought?”
Trichotillomania (TTM or Trich – pronounced as “trick”) is a disorder where a person repeatedly pulls hair, which results in hair loss.
I remember having a tough time with change growing up. This really stood out when I transitioned from grade school to high school.
For a very long time, Alex didn’t think of it as a problem, but now, looking back, he realises the signs have been there for a while.
Alex could pee at home without any effort. At work, he would usually wait until the bathroom was empty. If there was another person there, it took Alex slightly longer to initiate peeing as he felt a bit self-conscious, but he didn’t think much of it.
Confused about numerous anxiety disorders? This is not surprising because there is a great deal of overlap between them. There is also a lot of misinformation going around about what characterizes each disorder.
A panic attack is an abrupt surge of fear or acute discomfort. It includes severe physical symptoms that escalate very quickly (usually within a few minutes).
Social anxiety (also known as Social Phobia) is a misunderstood condition. People often confuse it with being introverted or shy. But introverts are not by definition socially anxious.
You did everything right. You researched, you asked your doctor for a recommendation, and you went to a counsellor with the goal of finally getting rid of your anxiety.
We often underestimate how difficult it really is to get rid of anxiety. The fact is -- we are all evolutionarily predisposed to be anxious.
Thoughts are not facts. And they are not threats. They are just, - well, - thoughts.
One of the most common presenting problems that patients come to my office with is anxiety.
Let's say you bought a fancy new car and installed a sophisticated alarm system to protect it from thieves.
The alarm was quite an expense and you take great pride in it. The only problem is that it goes off when the neighborhood kids play too close to it.
When we feel threatened, our attention is focused on the perceived threat.
In the previous article, (Anxiety Part 3), we talked about three components of anxiety: Thoughts, Physical Sensations, and Behaviors
Remember The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book by Frank Baum? If you do, you must recall how everybody was scared of Wizard of Oz the terrible.
Well, maybe not really the best friend. But definitely, something that we better learn to at least tolerate or, preferably, embrace.
In this part of the series of articles we discover together and walk through several helpful strategies on how to conquer worry.
An occupational therapist colleague of mine, Victoria Prooday, recently posted an image on her professional Facebook page. The cartoon picture showed two people sitting at the opposite sides of a bus.
Last weekend I was at my friend Emily’s barbeque party. After we had our full share of sausages, kebabs, and salads, and settled down at the table with the drinks, Emily said she was facing a serious dilemma and needed advice.
"Adversity presents itself in many forms and if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them."
A few days ago, I was talking a friend over the phone and he noticed that I sounded tired. I did feel a little depleted after a few emotionally difficult therapy sessions.
When experiencing a negative emotion, we often try to ignore it, pretend it's not there, or distract ourselves.
As we are preparing for our yearly vacation, and I am excitedly telling friends and acquaintances about our plans to see the beautiful Portugal, many react with comments and questions such as...
School is out for the year and children everywhere have taken a collective sigh of relief. Admittedly, even teachers and principals.
When the sun is shining, and everything is starting to bloom, we naturally feel more energy. This is a great time to do something wonderful for our children and ourselves. This is the best time to start gardening.
ACT is a type of behavioral therapy that is becoming increasingly popular in the treatment of OCD, and there is a good reason for it. It is so easy to get entangled in endless obsessions and compulsions and to lose sight of what really matters to you.