Email | Print

I've been putting off writing this article. I knew it might help people. But I just didn't write it. So why didn't I write this months ago? Well, it's about a condition I have, and to tell so many people about it is -- well -- embarrassing. But I've finally realized I have nothing to be embarrassed about.

This article is about OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Millions suffer from it. I suffer from one aspect of it: the obsessive aspect.

When people think of OCD they usually think of checking a stove thirty five times a day to see if it is off, or washing one's hands hundreds of times a day. That is OCD. However that is the compulsive aspect of OCD. In this article I want to speak of the obsessive aspect of it; obsessive thoughts are repetitive and painful: someone wondering again and again and again if they left the front door unlocked while at program, at work, at friends' houses. Someone may every day obsess whether they left the sink on and agonize over it. OCD is painful. However, the great news is that it is highly treatable.

At the time I am writing this, who our president will be has not yet been determined. Sure, everyone is wondering, at the time I am writing this, who will be sworn in on January 20th. Will Al Gore look silly dancing with Tipper? Will George W. Bush boast that he's really serious when he speaks of compassionate conservatism? It's something to contemplate once in a while, perhaps on a routine bus ride on the way to a parent's home.

Oh but someone who has an obsessive disorder goes well beyond that. "Who will win? Who will win? I must know. I must know. Now!" They bother their friends. "Hey, Joe, what's the latest scoop? Did you hear anything? Oh come on! You must have, Joe! Please do me a favor and pay more attention to the news, would you?" The consumer suffering from obsessive thinking might frantically and also quite uncomfortably study for hours and hours and hours several periodicals to find out an answer, which, at the time I am writing only G-d knows.

An obsessive person might obsess whether one day they will, heaven forbid, seriously hurt a friend's child. Day after day they may seriously predict the future as if they were prophets. Friends tell them, "What's wrong with you? Be careful around kids and chill out." Of course, nine times out of ten that advice is useless. Therapy from a recently written book you can get at Barnes and Nobles, or better yet therapy from a competent therapist can really help. We'll say his name is Kevin. Kevin is currently an unemployed graduate of Yale's television journalism graduate school. He did well at school.

His obsession is this: Am I much more talented, more talented, equally talented, less talented, or much less talented than female television journalists? Interestingly, in a case like this male journalists might not bother Kevin whatsoever. Did these women really earn their jobs? Could I do better? Do I have a better grasp on issues, from healthcare to international terrorism? Am I equal to these women? Would I conduct myself on TV in a more professional manner? Do they know more? Much more? Would I know more if I applied myself? Kevin must know!!! Where did that woman journalist go to school? So the sight of Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer gives him fits.

Again, there is hope. My therapist had me do an interesting exercise. The equipment needed was total privacy and a tape recorder. I spoke out my obsessions detail by detail into that small tape recorder. So, for instance, if our friend Kevin would do this exercise he would actually speak out and record his thoughts mentioned in the above paragraph and then some. Here's the trick. Kevin and all of us unlucky enough to suffer from obsessive thoughts should play back and listen to those obsessions on the tape recorder for fifteen minutes a day, every day, twice a day. Many times the obsessions get "burned out" of one's system. The recording should be updated as the obsessions change over time.

There are also medications. What a great feeling when a two millimeter little pill changed my life for the better. Thankfully, the OCD virtually stopped! I knew it was helping like I knew it was sunny outside that day. If you have any type of OCD I know what you are going through. I feel for you and I wish you the best of luck for a cure. They're out there. Keep looking.