OCD
I am on week one, so haven't really addressed obsessive thoughts yet. I self diagnosed OCD using the tests on the OCF web site. I scored 10 out of 20 and 9 out of 20. I couldn't believe what the questions on the test were. I thought I was the only one in the world that obsessed on certain thoughts. I still am afraid to tell anyone what they are because they are so ridiculous. I know they aren't real, but they seem so real, and they, rather than reality, frequently determine my behavior. But the test questions were like this: "Do you worry about .........?" And it would be the same, ridiculous thing I worry about! Other realy people actually worried about the same things I did! So, I sent a contribution to OCF and received some liturature I asked for. One was the OCD Newsletter from Summer 2004. The front page article described my OCD perfectly! Someone actually understood what I was going through. I let my mother read it so she could get a better understanding. It is really hard to explain it to people. I would recommend you go to the OCD web site, and maybe request this particular editon of the newsletter. Anyway, I haven't gone to therepy because 1) I can't find a doctor I would trust, and 2) I'm not ready to ask someone else to go through the behavior therapy sessions with me. I'd be embarassed and think I should be able to do it myself. When I heard about this Stress and Anxiety course I thought I could maybe learn some techniques I could use on my own. I did order a CD from the OCF catalogue that helped me quite a bit.