OCD Support Thread

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My apologies, DataB4. I had not realized that you posted. Perhaps I was still in process of writing. Hi, by the way! : )

Hi Brit. That happens to me all the time on this forum.

I've been talking/shouting a lot and I'm losing my voice, but unfortunately I'm going out again tomorrow. Any suggestions?

I'm glad you understand and Im sorry to hear you're losing your voice. Will the event or outing you're going to, tomorrow, require you to shout or speak, a lot? If not, I might suggest that you simply stay conscious of not forcing your vocal cords. Speak in what you consider your normal, inside, speaking voice. : )

Yes, it's another event outside with lots of people. That's the problem. I wish they weren't two days in a row, especially after I've talked a lot but not shouted the rest of the week too. I don't know, tea maybe? Doesn't really work that well for me. Maybe I've got cough drops left over from being sick... Not sure what else. I'm pretty tired too so hopefully I sleep well. If I can do that, it always helps. I feel pretty good in other ways though, so I'm happy about that. No more anxiety than usual anyhow.

Yay! I'm so glad you had a fun time at the picnic. Thank you for the advice, by the way! I don't think anything bad will happen as a result of telling him either, as he is the opposite of serious. He just constantly makes jokes, but I might email him my concerns, since he is deaf (literally, I'm not being mean) and he can't really hear us that well. The only scary thing is that nobody knows I have OCD except my parents and psychologist. I hope you are doing well, and thank you so much for your reply .

Thank you! I know exactly what brought it on- it was definitely the video. This is why I don't want to learn about schizophrenia in class. One mention of it can bring on anxiety and paranoid thoughts for months! I'm so glad they stopped for a while. I haven't had so much peace from these thoughts for so long!

Thank you also for your advice! I doubt my teacher will have an issue with it. He is like the nicest guy ever and all he does is make jokes all day! I really don't want more anxiety, so I think it will be a good thing to tell him.

No problem! Thank you so much for your advice! It really helps to always have people to talk to that understand, and I am so grateful for your and DataB4's advice! I am so pleased to hear from you as well- I really missed you! Hugs!

I'm doing good Stampy , thanks. I am trying to limit my time here as I spend too much time posting as it's so much fun - a bit of an oxymoron I know.

As to your quandary , personally I think your therapist and Mom are the best people to advise you as they know you best.

But if you want my 2 cents worth I seriously doubt that mental health studies at your age will cover any serious psychotic conditions , I'm guessing it will be mundane topics for you like depression , anxiety , stress and how to look after your mental health , social media , exam stress , bullying , boyfriend/girlfriend problems - This is just guesswork but you could probably get the syllabus somewhere to find out what is covered.
I know how scary it might be to reveal to someone like a teacher that you have OCD but I don't see the need for you to do this as I don't think it's relevant or even beneficial to your stress levels ( I know it would make things worse for me )
You could ask to be excused from lessons but this will might bring up awkward questions and defeat the point for you.

From my experience this is one of the only situations you will find that you will have a lot of control over with the right preparation.
I don't know how effective exposure therapy is for OCD triggers , I suppose it depends on the individual but this could be a situation where you can prepare , have all you coping mechanisms in place and be ready for it because you know what's going on and know the topics being covered. IRL you don't get these luxuries and eventually you might become like me and avoid every situation likely to cause a trigger making you a virtual recluse ( which only makes things worse and it becomes habitual or at least it has for me ).
You could even get your mom to talk to head teacher , headmaster , boss man ( I don't know what you call them ) to ask exactly what is going to be talked about in each lesson so you are fully prepared , I don't know the US education rules but I'm sure you mom has a right to know exactly what is being covered in class without divulging any personal information about you.

I'm going to repeat myself as I think it's important , personally I think your therapist and Mom are the best people to advise you as they know you best.

Edit: I just remembered as I posted - headteacher is a Principal

Wow, this thread is getting pretty long! I have only just realized. Most of it is me complaining about my anxiety, but whatever ! I hope all of us here can get support if they need it!

By the way, DataB4, I noticed that Ferris writes your username as Day tar bee four or something like that. Does your computer not pronounce your username correctly? Should I use that instead?

Dear lord Ferris, replying to that will take me all day ! Don't worry about it- thank you so much for replying and I will try to post back as soon as possible!

I also like the idea of getting the curriculum from your teacher and showing it to your therapist, Stampy. Your teacher may even suggest that if he doesn't have you choose the avoidance route.

My phone doesn't say my username correctly, but my computer does. Ferris came up with that spelling and it worked. It doesn't matter either way though.

Sometimes it's not about the support , just c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ sharing is beneficial , this thread has been so enlightening for me , it's like I was living in darkness and a light bulb was turned on.

You and me both! I can't stay away though .

Thanks for your advice! I was thinking that it may only be stress and anxiety as well, but there is a page on schizophrenia in our textbook which scares the crap out of me. I have a load of boyfriend/girlfriend problems (sarcasm- although we probably will go over that!). I may just ask him if we even cover disorders like that.

I get what you mean about exposure therapy. It is possible I could just sit in the lesson and not mention anything at all, but I don't know if that will be good for me. I will talk to my mom and therapist about it. I am laughing right now (Boss Man) !

Thanks again for your advice! I hope you are doing well!

It does seem like I should probably get the curriculum before I start complaining about nothing!

Okay- thanks for clarifying day tar bee four !

I'm glad it has been enlightening for you! Complaining is a great way to get my anxiety off my chest!

Salutations Day Tar Bee For , your post somehow has reminded me of a British comedy sketch show called "Spitting Image". The show was made with puppets of topical people like government figures and celebrities etc.

One particular sketch was of Leonard Nimoy complaining about being stereotyped as Spock and saying that he could be a shakespearean actor , listen to the video

No problem, Stampy. Oh, if it doesn't bother you to tell us, I'd be curious about your cognitive behavioral therapy homework.

Hmm Ferris, I'll have to check out that video.