is it possible that the obsessive aspect of aspergers can

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Joshandspot
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15 Jun 2009, 3:36 pm

make anxiety or depression worse than it actually is just because your obsessing about it? And what would you reccommend a person do who's dealing with a mild form of both but can feel a much stronger form taking over at some point in the future?



Hmmmn
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15 Jun 2009, 3:44 pm

Yes it does very much so. Cognitive behavioural therapy techniques and variations of have been the only thing that's worked for me along with physical excercise, the more intense the better.



rainbowbutterfly
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15 Jun 2009, 4:53 pm

For me it depends what I'm obsessing over. When I was a kid I would obsess over my favorite cartoon characters as a form of escapism. That made me very happy, because I didn't dwell on what was really bothering me. In High school and college I would obsess over my crushes, which made it a lot harder for me to move on when things didn't work out. Now that I don't have anything good to obsess about, I obsess about how I've been mistreated in the past.
I figure that the best solution is to live in the moment, by being aware of your senses and your surroundings. I meditate for at least 10 minutes a day (I started out doing only a few minutes daily) because that helps me to develop more control and awareness of my thoughts. However, lately I've found that it seems to take more than meditation to have control of my thoughts. I also have to watch and be aware of my thoughts at every moment of the day. The key is to observe your thoughts without participating in them or judging them. It's very hard for me to do because I'm not always in the mood to silence my mind. Though I find that getting out of the house, playing videogames, or taking a walk outside seems to help.
On some of those days that I have been successful with simply just "observing" my thoughts, it seems like I could either hear chattering in my head without being able to make out the words being said, or I could think to myself 'this is what I would think at this time' without actually participating in that thought.
A trick I also heard in a meditation class is if you think the opposite of each thought your mind eventually gives up and becomes quiet.



RoisinDubh
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19 Jun 2009, 1:09 pm

It does for me. Additonally, when I'm depressed or anxious (or often, both), I will find myself uncontrollably obsessing over OTHER things in the past that my mood reminds me of, thus putting me into an even worse mood than before. I refer to that as my 'thought pinwheels'....they spin out of control.


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Funaho
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19 Jun 2009, 1:28 pm

RoisinDubh wrote:
It does for me. Additonally, when I'm depressed or anxious (or often, both), I will find myself uncontrollably obsessing over OTHER things in the past that my mood reminds me of, thus putting me into an even worse mood than before. I refer to that as my 'thought pinwheels'....they spin out of control.


Yeah I do that too, and end up spiralling down until I sorta hit bottom and bounce back up a little bit. I'm still on the way down at the moment, as a matter of fact.


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RoisinDubh
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19 Jun 2009, 1:32 pm

Funaho wrote:
RoisinDubh wrote:
It does for me. Additonally, when I'm depressed or anxious (or often, both), I will find myself uncontrollably obsessing over OTHER things in the past that my mood reminds me of, thus putting me into an even worse mood than before. I refer to that as my 'thought pinwheels'....they spin out of control.


Yeah I do that too, and end up spiralling down until I sorta hit bottom and bounce back up a little bit. I'm still on the way down at the moment, as a matter of fact.


Me, too. :( It makes it difficult to concentrate on anything BUT whatever it is that's upsetting me.


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Alphabetania
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19 Jun 2009, 2:28 pm

Funny you should mention it, my psychologist just told me the same thing this evening: obsessive compulsive disorder can make people obsessive about their anxiety, and thus the anxiety escalates.


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