Transcranial magnetic stimulation

I have been researching an alternative to chemical medication and TMS definately sounds promising.

Though in its early stages of research, Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has shown promising results. The magnetic pulses are focused on the brain's supplementary motor area (SMA), which plays a role in filtering out extraneous internal stimuli, such as ruminations, obsessions, and tics. The TMS treatment is an attempt to normalize the SMA's activity, so that it properly filters out thoughts and behaviors associated with OCD.

I will keep everyone updated with new information.

Living with OCD, a bad day.

I've not been having a very good day. For some reason my anxiety is through the roof today. Occasionally I get it in my head that nothing is going right for me. That's when I start to feel hopeless. As for today, this feeling started early this morning. I did not get a good night sleep, so that already sets me up for a crappy day. My gas light came on in the car as I was driving a friend to work, and all of a sudden I thought, this car gets horrible gas mileage, I need a new car! So guess what I've been doing for the last four hours. Making lists on what I want out of a new car. I have also been on EBay checking out what they have to offer. Now, in no way can I afford a new car, and technically there's nothing wrong with the car I have now, but still. The feeling came over me, so I've wasted the better part of the morning feeding my craziness! Oh well, I still feel that I've made leaps and bounds over what my OCD used to be like. More on the worst of the worst later!

Words of Wisdom

What would you do, if you knew you could not fail?

OCD Obsessive lists: Music

One of my most consuming problems is list making. Each list is different. Specifically, music lists have nothing to do with numbers or 'flow'. If I am in a restaurant, elevator, store, car, etc. and I here a song, I need to find out who the singer or band is. This racks up many research hours. I start my lists with the heading of - Band or Singer - Song Title - Lyrics - If I do not know the title or singer, I write some of the lyrics down, and run them through different search engines later, to try and find them. I have found thousands of song titles this way. I also like to just write down the name of a singer or band that I feel would have a calming effect on me. I find it hard to explain, but if I here of a band name or singers name, and it sounds 'right', I have to right it down. I would like to start writing these lists. This will in no way be quick, I have books and books of songs alone. I hope you enjoy them, many of these songs are now among my favorites.



This list is an example of what it looks like in the beginning. Please excuse misspellings.





Band or Singer Title Lyrics

EDIE BRACKEL GREEN GRASS?

ELTON JOHN VIENNA

LENORD SKYNARD FREE BIRD

JAMES BLUNT BEAUTIFUL

JESSES GIRL

RADIO HEAD CREEP

GARBAGE I'M NOT AN ADDICT

STING WHITE WEDDING

Uplifting Poem By William Allen White

I am not afraid of tomorrow.

For I have seen yesterday, and I love today!

May today be all you've dreamed of,

and may tomorrow hold all you've dreamed for!

How I Sort Movies to Rent "OCD Obsessive List"

This is going to sound crazy but this is just a sample of my crazy OCD. Oh, and by the way, I spent over 5 hours on this list. Notice how short the list is, but in my head, this list is perfectly balanced according to the movie title. I honestly could not stop myself until it felt perfectly balanced.

How I made this list? I went to Yahoo Movies and did a search for a random movie using the word "great". I selected the first movie that came up, and then clicked the first "Similar Movie". I then sorted them by length and selected the first title because I like movies over 86 minutes. If a movie is under 86 minutes I get almost physically ill, but will force myself to watch it. I also force myself to watch a movie under 86 minutes at least once a month. During that movie I will not touch anything and I will usually feel ill before the first half is over.

After I sort by length I go to the 100th movie and from the bottom I go to each movie and select the 3 most similiar movie recommended by Yahoo Users. I then take the 100 movies that were the 3rd most similiar and select every other movie, I completly delete any doubles.

Once I had the 39 movie out of the 100 the real work began. I put all of the titles below in a spreadsheet and added up the value of each letter 1-26 and put the totals next to the movie title. I sorted each title based on the number value of the title and divided it by the one below it. After that I sort them by visual appeal of the title, if the number felt balanced against the movie title I would move it up 1 slot. If it felt uneven I moved it down. This process took about 5 hours, but after I finished it I honestly felt joy and a major sense of accomplishment.

I know it seems stupid but this list is probably the most balanced random movie list in exsistence.

Anyways here is the list, it is balanced perfectly using the title names and length of the movie not including credits.

1. Maria Full of Grace
2. The Lady Killers
3. Legally Blonde 2
4. Ride or Die
5. Miranda
6. Shall We Dance
7. Why Do Fools Fall in Love
8. Van Helsing
9. Wonderland
10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
11. Exit to Eden
12. Willard
13. American Pyscho
14. Welcome to the Dollhouse
15. Rent
16. Heavenly Creatures
17. Final
18. Virgin Suicides
19. Guess Who
20. Beauty Shop
21. The Wedding Date
22. Shrek 2
23. Cariltos Way
24. Dog Day Afternoon
25. Donny Darko
26. Kangaroo Jack
27. 3,000 Miles to Graceland
28. Boiler Room
29. Jarhead
30. Swordfish
31. The Aviator
32. Kicking and Screaming
33. Alot Like Love
34. Three to Tango
35. Envy
36. Along Came a Spider
37. National Treasure
38. Take the Lead
39. Bring it On
    
    
    That is it, the perfect list of movies. I feel great.

I love to make lists that feel perfectly balanced mentally, emotionally and physically. If I lay a list out, I expect it to feel smooth and flowing.

My OCD Experience

My name is Elizabeth and I suffer from OCD.

I'd like to share a little bit about myself in this first entry.

My first severe symptoms OCD started when I was about seventeen years old. I had an experience that left me with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In turn, I developed horrible anxiety. To cope with this anxiety I started to perform 'rituals' to lesson my symptoms. My main irrational fear was that someone was trying to poison me, and that the result would be a complete mental breakdown on my part. For the most, my fears had to do with things I used, touched, and ate.

I began to organize everything. I started to choose things in threes. I set up 'traps' in my home to see if things were moved. I stopped going out socially. For example, I could not consume any food unless I was sure that the package it came in was airtight. This meant I was living off of pre-packaged food. Even so, if I opened it and it just didn't look or 'feel' right, I would need to dispose of it. I also developed the need to have everything I consumed shared by people in my life, mainly my mother and father. They quickly grew accustomed to having to 'test' my food and drink before I could. And forget about taking any medication! I was positive that what was being given my the pharmacy was tampered with.

That is just the tip of the ice berg with my experience, more later!

So, that was the basic beginning. It got allot worse. My symptoms began to effect my family life. I had just turned eighteen and was forced to leave my parents house again. (For full life time line, check posting, MY LINE.) I found a very small studio apartment and moved in. I did not leave the apartment for three months. I was too scared to go out. I honestly felt like I was losing my mind, and I was having panic attacks constantly. They would wake me up from sleep and I was sure that someone had broken in while I was sleeping, and 'contaminated' things around my apartment. I couldn't eat anything in my home. For example, I would open a bag of chips, and if after I took a shower, or nap, or any time when the food was out of my sight, I went back to the chips and they didn't 'feel' right, they were garbage. I just could not get past the highly unlikely possibility that when I wasn't looking, someone contaminated them, even though no one was ever in my house. Well, that is right about when I started throwing up, I told you before, it gets allot worse. Like I've stated, I was mostly concerned with food. I struggled with bulimia and anorexia since I'd been thirteen. I'd gotten help and was better, but now, I could not help myself. Everything I ate would lead to a debilitating panic attack. Everything I ate got vomited up. As I said, this went on for months, then a friend who missed her 'party' buddy suggested I start drinking again, that maybe then I'd be able to go out to party's and bars with her. I had stopped drinking because my anxiety was always unbearable the morning after. I drank to get drunk, and then I drank more to forget everything. My life was falling apart. Well, I was ready to take my own life, so I figured, I'm eighteen, I know I'm a drug addict and an alcoholic, but, I just cant feel this way anymore. I started drinking again.

Popular Medications for OCD

Medications as treatment include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as paroxetine (Seroxat, Paxil, Xetanor, ParoMerck, Rexetin), sertraline (Zoloft, Stimuloton), fluoxetine (Prozac, Bioxetin), escitalopram (Lexapro), and fluvoxamine (Luvox) as well as the tricyclic antidepressants, in particular clomipramine (Anafranil). SSRIs prevent excess serotonin from being pumped back into the original neuron that released it. Instead, serotonin can then bind to the receptor sites of nearby neurons and send chemical messages or signals that can help regulate the excessive anxiety and obsessive-compulsive thoughts. In some treatment-resistant cases, a combination of clomipramine and an SSRI has shown to be effective even when neither drug on its own has been efficacious. Serotonergic antidepressants typically take longer to show benefit in OCD than with most other disorders which they are used to treat, as it is common for 2–3 months to elapse before any tangible improvement is noticed. In addition to this, the treatment usually requires high doses. Fluoxetine, for example, is usually prescribed in doses of 20 mg per day for clinical depression, whereas with OCD the dose will often range from 20 mg to 80 mg or higher, if necessary. In most cases antidepressant therapy alone will only provide a partial reduction in symptoms, even in cases that are not deemed treatment-resistant. Other medications such as riluzole, memantine, gabapentin (Neurontin), lamotrigine (Lamictal), and low doses of the newer atypical antipsychotics olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal) have also been found to be useful as adjuncts in the treatment of OCD. The use of antipsychotics in OCD must be undertaken carefully, however, since, although there is very strong evidence that at low doses they are beneficial (most likely due to their dopamine receptor antagonism), at high doses these same antipsychotics have proven to cause dramatic obsessive-compulsive symptoms even in those patients who do not normally have OCD. This is most likely due to the antagonism of 5-HT2A receptors becoming very prominent at these doses and outweighing the benefits of dopamine antagonism. Another point that must be noted with antipsychotic treatment is that SSRIs inhibit the chief enzyme that is responsible for metabolising antipsychotics — CYP2D6 — so the dose will be effectively higher than expected when these are combined with SSRIs.

The naturally occurring sugar inositol may be an effective treatment for OCD. Inositol appears to modulate the actions of serotonin and has been found to reverse desensitisation of the neurotransmitter's receptors.

St John's Wort has been claimed to be of benefit due to its (non-selective) serotonin re-uptake inhibiting qualities, and studies have emerged that have shown positive results. However, a double-blind study, using a flexible-dose schedule(600-1800 mg/day), found no difference between St John's Wort and the placebo.

Recent research has found increasing evidence that opioids may significantly reduce OCD symptoms, though the addictive property of these drugs likely stands as an obstacle to their sanctioned approval for OCD treatment. Anecdotal reports suggest that some OCD sufferers have successfully self-medicated with opioids such as Ultram and Vicodin, though the off-label use of such painkillers is not widely accepted, again because of their addictive qualities. Tramadol is an atypical opioid that may be a viable option as it has a low potential for abuse and addiction, mild side effects, and shows signs of rapid efficacy in OCD. Tramadol not only provides the anti-OCD effects of an opiate, but also inhibits the re-uptake of serotonin (in addition to norepinephrine). This may provide additional benefits, but should not be taken in combination with antidepressant medication unless under careful medical supervision due to potential serotonin syndrome.

Studies have also been done that show nutrition deficiencies may also contribute to OCD and other mental disorders. Certain vitamin and mineral supplements may aid in such disorders and provide the nutrients necessary for proper mental functioning.

Research has generally shown that psychotherapy, in combination with psychotropic medication, is more effective than either option alone.

Recent studies at the University of Arizona using the tryptamine alkaloid psilocybin have shown promising results. There are reports that other hallucinogens such as LSD and peyote have produced similar benefits. It has been hypothesised that this effect may be due to stimulation of 5-HT2A receptors and, less importantly, 5-HT2C receptors. This causes, among many other effects, an inhibitory effect on the orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain in which hyperactivity has been strongly associated with OCD.

Emerging evidence has suggested that regular nicotine treatment may be helpful in improving symptoms of OCD, although the pharmacodynamical mechanism by which this improvement is achieved is not yet known, and more detailed studies are needed to fully confirm this hypothesis. Anecdotal reports suggest OCD can worsen when cigarettes are smoked.

Common Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

1. Repeated hand washing
2. Repeated clearing of the throat, although nothing may need to be cleared.
3. Specific counting systems — e.g., counting in groups of four, arranging objects in groups of three, grouping objects in odd/even numbered groups, etc.
4. One serious symptom which stems from this is "counting" steps — e.g., feeling the necessity to take 12 steps to the car in the morning.
5. Perfectly aligning objects at complete, absolute right angles, or aligning objects perfectly parallel etc. This symptom is shared with OCPD and can be confused with this condition unless it is realized that in OCPD it is not stress-related.
6. Fear of acting out on violent or aggressive impulses, or feeling overly responsible for the safety of others.
7. Sexual obsessions or unwanted sexual thoughts. Two classic examples are fear of being homosexual or fear of being a pedophile. In both cases, sufferers will obsess over whether or not they are genuinely aroused by the thoughts.
8. Chasing- Having the need to follow people who the victim is irritated by. Sometimes having warm feelings inside about this person.
9. Strange and chronic worries about certain events such as sleeping, eating, leaving home, etc. without proper items. An example would be one who is unable to fall asleep without a metronome.
10. Fear of going crazy.
11. Repetitive and often pointless exercises of doing something over and over again.
12. Having to "cancel out" bad thoughts with good thoughts. An example of this would be imagining harming a child and having to imagine a child playing happily to cancel it out.
13. ometimes, although this is uncommon, someone with OCD will escape into fantasy because of bad, unwanted thoughts.
14. A fear of contamination; some sufferers may fear the presence of human body secretions such as saliva, blood, sweat, tears, vomit, or mucus, or excretions such as urine or feces. Some OCD sufferers even fear that the soap they are using is contaminated.
15. A need for both sides of the body to feel even.
16. A person with OCD might walk down a sidewalk and step on a crack with the ball of their left foot, then feel the need to step on another crack with the ball of their right foot. They may brush up against a wall with one shoulder, and then turn around and brush up against the wall with the other shoulder. If one hand gets wet, the sufferer may feel very uncomfortable if the other is not. If the sufferer is walking and bumps into something, he/she may hit the object or person back to feel a sense of evenness. These symptoms are also experienced in a reversed manner. Some sufferers would rather things to be uneven, favoring the preferred side of the body.
17. An obsession with numbers (be it in math class, watching TV, or in a room). Some people are obsessed with even numbers and loathe odd numbers (odd numbers cause them a great deal of anxiety and often make the person uncomfortable or even angry) or vice versa.
18. Twisting the head on a toy around, then twisting it all the way back exactly in the opposite direction.
19. Fear of transformation. A fear of transforming into someone or something else. Losing one's self or taking on undesired characteristics is what creates the anxiety and fear. Rituals such as counting, blinking, checking, hand washing, etc., may eliminate the anxiety when they are done in a way which "feels right" to the sufferer.
20. Feeling like they are needed to have an exact routine, with minor details.
21. Obsessive-compulsive spending. May be indicated by a pattern of uniformity on a bank account.
22. In addition, the affected person may feel complacent about or invincible against the economic issues.

And Many more, we are going to be adding common OCD symptoms daily.

Causes and related disorders

It was the general belief in 14th, 15th, and 16th century Europe that those who experienced blasphemous, sexual or other obsessive thoughts were possessed by the Devil. Based on this reasoning, treatment involved banishing the "evil" from the "possessed" person through exorcism.

Today the community of scientists studying obsessive-compulsive disorder is split into two factions disagreeing over the illness's cause. One side believes that obsessive-compulsive behavior is a psychological disorder; the other side thinks it has a neurological origin.

The Stanford University School of Medicine OCD webpage states, "Although the causes of the disorder still elude us, the recent identification of children with OCD caused by an autoimmune response to Group A streptococcal infection promises to bring increased understanding of the disorder's pathogenesis."

What is Compulsion?

Compulsions are defined by:

1. Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

2. The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive.

What is an Obsession?

Obsessions are defined by:

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress.

The thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems.

The person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action.

The person recognizes that the obsession thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind, and are not based in reality.

What is OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric anxiety disorder most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or "rituals") which attempt to neutralize the obsessions.

The phrase "obsessive-compulsive" has worked its way into the wider English lexicon, and is often used in an offhand manner to describe someone who is meticulous or absorbed in a cause. Such casual references should not be confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is also important to distinguish OCD from other types of anxiety, including the routine tension and stress that appear throughout life. Although these signs are often present in OCD, a person who shows signs of infatuation or fixation with a subject/object, or displays traits such as perfectionism, does not necessarily have OCD, a specific and well-defined condition.