Need help, please, all healers.

Hi guys. I have a problem with a compulsion and I really need some help. Does anyone here know of a healing regimen for removing a compulsion?
Thanks --

Obsession and compulsion are both anxiety disorders.

First: You are safe and deserve love.
Second: You must be willing to be calm
Third: These are old issues that are trying to heal.


Surround yourself with calming, soothing conditions. Remember that you are acting on "old" tapes.

There is no shame in asking for help, be willing to ask for the best for yourself.


I highly recommend an open minded therapist, it's going to take some time to work through, be very patient and kind to yourself.

:hug:

I know I need help and therapy. But I don't know where to begin to get it.
Do I tell my doctor? Do I seek help at a clinic? When I was younger I talked to few therapists and never felt I was getting any help from them. The only one who helped at all was a famous therapist (I didn't know it then) who had published some interesting papers on multiple personality disorders and a famous book was written about those. However, I don't have multiple personality. He told me I was dealing with anxiety and was basically healthy mentally. Which I am. He said my present realtionship was causing me problems, which it was. But that was 1972. Today my relationship is great - a husband for nearly 30 years. But I'm the problem.
I don't know what to do.
But I guess a therapist is a good idea. I just have to find one who is smarter than I am. And I'm not being stuck on myself when I say that. I am a master manipulator and very clever. I have extreme people skills. Any therapist who is not much more clever will never be able to help.

I was just thinking about you last night and wondering where you were and if you would ever post here again. I was thinking of writing you a PM and asking you to return, and now, here you are. I'm sorry that you're having such trouble and that I can't be of more help, as the only thing that ever significantly assisted me with resolving my anxiety issues was medication. Well, and a significant lifestyle change. I wish you the absolute best of luck though, and will keep you in my thoughts.

I've been extremely busy, and that is the only reason I haven't posted. I just got back from a three-week trip with 15 college students and 18 professors to Paris; I am exhausted.... LOL....but I know I have to deal with my "problem."
I'm going to see my doctor next week - I broke my hand while in Paris and had it x-rayed -- the doctor at the American Hospital said I should have it looked at again, although it is only a hairline crack and I don't have a cast. I think I have some disability issues - can't write but can type, etc. Anyway, I plan to talk to my doctor about my problem and see if he has any suggestions.

The past several months have been extreme - so I haven't posted much. Don't worry, I'll be back.

I have some feelings about stuff coming up and I'll post in a few days.

And I think it's good that you're planning on involving your doc--metaphysical and spiritual support can probably help, but it's no substitute for the input of a medical professional in these matters.

The screening showed I am suffering from "generalized anxiety disorder" and possible "bipolar disorder," although I think the screening was skewed toward the bipolar disorder diagnosis. I think this may be the current popular disorder.
I do NOT want to be diagnosed with the newest, most popular disorder just to make some pharmaceutical company richer.
I need to find the best treatment for me, personally.
This is what scares me, really - to be categorized into a box without a basis for it.
I'm also concerned that I will be called delusional if I mention my "abilities."
Psychiatrists make me nervous.
Ha! Mental Health professionals make me crazy!!! LOL

Take it easy. Just take a few deep breaths and try to relax.

Respectfully, I think the next thing you should do is schedule an appointment with your GP to talk about this issue specifically, and try to share the concerns you just expressed here with her/him as soon as possible at said appointment. Those fears are very common, and understandable, although as someone who has never had a bad experience with a psychiatrist, I just want to give everyone who worries that they will a big hug. There's more I could post here, (please feel free to PM me later if you'd like to know my thoughts) but before we get in trouble for going beyond the scope of this forum or violating site posting guidelines, let me emphasize again that despite your concerns, I think you know you do need to secure some medical intervention to identify and address the problem ASAP. We can all be here to provide you with emotional and spiritual support, but talking to some doctors is really the only responsible way for you to find out what's going on with your health at this time.

you need. You need to talk to someone who is trained to help you deal with whatever you are going through. You only scare yourself and provoke unwanted thoughts when you try to take care of this yourself.

Please love yourself enough to get professional help. And BREATHE!! Before you go to sleep tonight, ask your guardian angels to give you assistance. Ask your higher self to give you the courage to trust yourself to make the decision to get help.

I am asking the universe to surround you with calming, soothing, healing energy and that special assistance from the angelic realm be given to help you through this crisis.

Feeling exhausted and stressed from being overly busy can unbalance us all, and this can manifest itself in heightened anxieties, phobias, compulsions and ultimately depression.....all IMHO.

First take the time and care for yourself to find some down time to unwind and ground yourself after all of the busy-ness and stress.....from the exhaustion.

Overworked adrenal glands and mental and physical exhaustion will cause many mental instability symptoms - in my experience.

Take care of yourself and get some good rest.
And then take the time and care to find a really good therapist to help you with issues you can't seem to work out or heal on your own.

:hug:

DemEx

Thanks for your advice. I'll take it. I plan to make an appointment in the morning and talk to my GP - who is a great guy, by the way, and will help - and let him direct me.
In the meantime I will do my best to chill.

lol

a friend swears Bach Flower Remedies White Chestnut helped with compulsive thoughts. Here's a link: http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/38/whiteche.htm

I don't know if it would be something you're interested in, but there are "Inner Talk" tapes and cds that might help for this. They have shown positive results for me, and others have mentioned them before.
I'll be praying for your success in defeating this trouble.

See if you can find an enlightened therapist that uses visualization and a generally more enlightened approach. The first thing you need to do is explore the history of what you are calling the compulsion. Freud (or maybe Jung) said that all neurosis comes from the avoidance of legitimate suffering. It may be that a good therapist can help you locate the original suffering that your "compulsion" is avoiding. By exploring it and getting you to feel the original feelings that were appropriate to the orginal experience (but unable to be expressed at the time), you won't need this other behavior. If these things don't work, there are always medications. If you ask your doctor, he is likely to go directly to meds, because that is what doctor's know best.

"If you ask your doctor, he is likely to go directly to meds, because that is what doctor's know best."

Quite a bit of research has been done with regard to the use of mega-vitamin therapy and mental illness, in general. As someone who did medical research for years, and then found myself in a very bad way with cancer, I must say that you should always try the most gentle approach first. Especially, if it is healthy and free of side effects.

My mother was diagnosed as being bipolar at the age of 76. She had always been one to find a natural approach (vitamins, homeopathy etc) and stay away from docs. In a bitter sweet way this was both her saving grace and her ultimate downfall.
I learned that if Bipolar goes untreated the cycling btw. manic and depressive states 'accelerates' in a way so that the person remains in a sort of constant state of mania OR depression. My mother, as it turns out, was Unipolar, and so tended to be constantly 'up'. This was great for us kids in some ways! She was non-stop fun- skiing, swimming, go, go, go! (I will never forget the time she knitted six matching ski sweaters in less than 24 hours- one for each of us.)

She managed to go undiagnosed for all those years. But, in the end she could not stop going (literally)- She could not stop driving, for example, despite numerous accidents. She could not stay safely seated in a wheel chair and would get up and try to walk and end up falling down, over and over again. The doctors said that had she been treated early on this would not have happened.

In the end, I wondered if the meds they forced on her were more the problem. The side effects were awful. At times I had to refuse to allow it. She was so doped up it seemed pointless. But, you cannot refuse treatment and still get help with PT (which she needed) and etc. I've come to believe that our medical system is, plain and simple, UNETHICAL! And, I used to work in hospitals!!

I deeply regret that she did not tell us so that we could have helped her years ago. And, perhaps even more, that I did not recognize what was going on.

I will tell you this: She had a tendency to be somewhat compulsive but, NOTHING like once she was on Depakote and etc. In her mid- 70s I could see that she was somewhat compulsive about saving paper napkins from restaurants, for example. We found a basket full of them under her bed. However, I will never forget going to visit her in the psych hospital and finding her frantically moving around her room looking for places to stash things. Not at all her usual MO.

So, I would rec'd that you see your doctor. BUT, if it were me, I would not decide on a treatment with the doctor until I had tried some of the less harmful approaches such as homeopathy, vitamins etc. I would strongly rec'd that you begin taking a good B-complex vitamin as this is crucially important for mental health- and thiamine in particular, for stress relief.

Please, let us know how it goes. And, please know that we are all sending our love your way! You are such a neat person, pinkt!

The last two years have been very hard for me. I wish I could elaborate on the board, but I can't.
Suffice to say, I'm at a low point.
I'll post later to let you know progress.

I have a couple of tried and true relaxation exercises that I'd be happy to send you if you're interested. Just drop me a p.m. :donut: :donut: :)

consider options for professional help!

When I get too scatterbrained, anxious for no reason, or develop PMS symptoms (mine include obscession) I take calcium supplements or add more calcium-rich foods to my diet: nuts, leafy greens, dairy products.

Exercise also helps you feel better. Sunlight and exercise eases stress and increases seratonin (helps you sleep) and dopamine (makes you feel good) - I learned to go for long walks to think through problems (and get away from compulsions). If you can get out into the sun, you'll be creating Vitamin D which your body needs to process Calcium!

Avoid empty calories and things that leech calcium and other nutrients from your body: coffee without milk, more than a little alcohol, drugs like meth and x. (Notice that all those things, including the empty calories, change your mood!)

This advise, which I got from my GYN, has really opened my eyes. After all, mental disorders are constantly described as 'chemical imbalances'. It makes sense to me, although I wish I could better write how it makes sense to me. My organic chemistry class taught me that calcium is frequently used to control chemical reactions.

Also in very stressful times in the past I've gotten help from a taking St. John's Wort for just long enough to get a couple nights of solid sleep. But, ST. Johns Wort makes you sensitive to sunlight, so keep that in mind. ST. John's Wort acts like a seratonin re-uptake inhibitor, which is also what prozac does. You don't want to mix herbs and meds without talking to someone who knows how they interect.

Then you can try some time-management methods to focus concentration. The two most general are: working from a list to stay focused, and its inverse, which is keeping a log of what you're doing so that when you're momentarily distracted you can get back to it.

Good luck and best wishes!
C