How do you stop OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)?
469679
Being ignorant towards your obsessions.
581893
To the guy below me:  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  OCD is a perfectly acceptable way to abbreviate this.\n\nReportedly, the following people deal (dealt) with OCD issues: \n\nHoward Hughes, Roseanne Barr, Howie Mandel, Martin Scorsese, Howard Stern, Marc Summers, Michelangelo, Stanley Kubrick, Harrison Ford, Jane Horrocks, Penelope Cruz, Billy Bob Thornton, Warren Zevon, John List, Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, John George Haigh, Andrew Kehoe, Volkert van der Graaf, Paul Gascoigne, Nikola Tesla, John Melendez, Kathie Lee Gifford, Ludwig van Beethoven, Donald Trump, Cameron Diaz, Albert Einstein, Ian Puleston-Davies, David Beckham, Charlie Sheen, Joey Ramone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rose McGowan, Aaron Bagnola
414219
I have A LOT of experience with this. I do not have OCD but my husband does and his has to do with such thoughts and horrible feelings of guilt. We are also devoted Christians and church members. He gets through most of it with a lot of support from his family and with professional therapy. This is not something that is going to just go away you have to work on it every day. First you have to know that when Jesus died on the cross he didn't say ok I forgive every one but you. You deserve it just as much as anyone else. Even He forgave those who put him on the cross. You need to pray and be thankful of this everyday. Speak to God as your constant companion in everything you do and you feel the difference. He is your Father and loves you as such. Second try to find a counselor you are comfortable with that you can express you thoughts and feelings to so you can stop the cycle of thoughts roaring in your head. It also helps if you can write them down, make sure you write all of them down. You don't ever have to read them again and you can destroy the pages if you like but you should still write down your thoughts. \n\nFinally and this is important, we learned after several years of bad doctors and wrong medications that a heart condition can cause and worsen this problem. Its called mitral valve prolapse and it messes up the autonomic system so that your chemistry is never normal. You should be check out for this as your heart can get worse with time and sometimes a beta blocker used for high blood pressure can help with your thoughts. Until you do get your heart checked out be sure to stay away from any mental health drugs because this condition also alters their effects.\n\nMy husband and I have been dealing with this for 13 years, we have two children and he is making it through it just fine. Feel free to contact me anytime just click on my profile.
221594
I don't beleive you can.  Maybe find someone that can help you keep it under control.\n\nGood Luck.
325528
Try different behavior modification techniques. Reward yourself the less you engage in OCD like behaviors with something you really enjoy. Say it takes you 15 minutes to get out of your house and into the car, reward yourself if you take less than 15 minutes, and once you're consistently getting to your car in less than 15 minutes, try 10 minutes, and then keep doing so, until before you know it, you have controlled some of your OCD, repetitive behaviors.
776783
no...stop obsessing...
817343
I fell your pain - i have been doing that my entire life as well.  It's linked to OCD.\nIt's a habit and needs to be broken like any other addiction / habit.  This one is hard, since half the time we don't realize we're doing it until we bite too deep and get a little pain back.  \nA few ideas are aversion therapy -  buy a bottle of the stuff they make so people will stop biting their nails and apply it to the skin around the nails.  If you can't find that, you can get a bottle of bitter apple spray, which stops puppies from chewing and spray it on your hands.\nTry keeping a journal or everytime you catch yourself doing it.  Log what you were doing, what your state of mind was and what triggered it, it you know.  Often we do this as a response to stress or boredom.  \nKeep track of when you don't do it.  Reward yourself for not doing it.  Start with not doing it for 1 day, then increase to two, indrease to 3, and so on.  The experts say it takes at least 3 weeks of not doing something to break a habit.\nGet a manicure - getting your hands to a nice looking state may help you stop (if you're a guy, you don't have to get nail polish put on to have a manicure.)\nHide any tools you use - or better yet, get rid of the all together.  I admit that i've spent some quality time on my hands with a pair of tweezers.  \nThe thing that really made me stop was when i got braces on my teeth i just couldn't physically do it no the habit's faded since then - not that i'm promoting this expensive treatment for skin chewing alone - it was just a nice side effect of getting my teeth straightened.\nAnd finally - know that you are not crazy and you are not alone.\n\nGood luck
713534
Yeah. Sometimes OCD is triggered by something, like a memory or occurance. It doesn't have to be constant, but it should be fairily regularily.
484067
getting rid of an annoying habit may be easier than you think.  Just costantly remind yourself of how annoying the habit is and occupy yourself with something more pleasant. Mind over matter
560476
dont know why you can't stop.  but you can try to stop perhaps if you think of all the people that touch the things that you touch before you touch them. and how people could have just wiped their butts, picked their nose, picked up their dogs poo, had sex, scratched their butt, held their willie to pee, cleaned a litter box, grabbed some rotten food, took out the trash, or changed a tampon and didn't wash their hands and so after you touch what they just touched, you have all that nastiness on your hands and when you bite your nails, you are putting all those germs in your mouth.  hope that helps.  the gross factor made me quit biting instantly.  good luck.
795378
If you obsess about things you cannot change or cannot seem to control, yes.\n\nSee a professional, I did.\n\nI have had OCD since I was a kid, and I can't tell you how many times I would freak out if things were not even, or clean, or the way I thought they needed to be....\n\nA good medication like wellbutrin XL can change your life, but get a proper diagnosis first, by a therapist.\n\nTrust me, life is too short to sweat the small stuff!\n\nIt never goes away but when you learn to manage it, it changes your life.\n\nGood Luck,\nTanya
259271
It sounds like you truely do have OCD. I take it you are underage and cannot obtain medical treatment on your own. If your parents refuse to have you treated please go as soon as you become of age. It can be very sucessfully treated with medication and or therapy.\n\nthis is from a web site:\n\nWhat are obsessions and compulsions?\nObsessions are recurrent, persistent, unwanted ideas, thoughts, images or impulses that are experienced involuntarily, appear to be senseless, and feel out of control. They commonly intrude when you are trying to focus on thinking or doing other things. Obsessions are often accompanied by uncomfortable feelings, such as fear, disgust, doubt, or a sensation that things have to be done in a way that is "just so." \n\nSome common obsessions include: \n\nfear of danger to oneself or others \nfear of contamination \na need for exactness or order \nA compulsion is a repetitive behavior - a ritual - that you feel driven to do, and seemingly cannot stop doing. Compulsions occur as a result of obsessions and represent your attempts to manage your incessant thoughts by doing something to try to settle them. For example, if an obsessive worry is whether or not the door was locked, then a compulsive response might be to check the lock repeatedly. Some common compulsive behaviors are: \n\nexcessive checking \ncounting \nsilent repetition of words \nhand washing \ncleaning \n ordering / arranging \ntouching \npraying \nhoarding \n \n\nObsessions and compulsions range from mild checking behavior (did I lock the door?) to severe cases where you are unable to function based on compulsions having taken over normal life functioning. If we think of obsessive-compulsive traits and behaviors on a continuum of varying degrees and intensities, most people experience them with little or no negative consequence on their daily lives and relationships. \n\nWhen obsessions, compulsions, and perfectionist behaviors take up excessive time and significantly interfere with your daily life and relationships, it is time to seek help. When this occurs, the repetitive and seemingly out-of-control behaviors of obsession and compulsion may be indicative of a disorder that should be addressed with the help of a licensed professional. \n\nIf: \n\nyou feel unable to keep up with your normal appearance and behavior, \nyou can’t work, \nyou cut off connections with friends and families and are unable to socialize, or \nyou can’t take care of yourself and have trouble eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. \nit is time to seek help! \nBehavioral therapy with medications seems to offer the best long-term improvement for the treatment of OCD. Even though you probably realize that your anxiety and behaviors are excessive and irrational, changing them is not a simple matter. Most people with OCD require assistance from a qualified therapist.\n\nCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Generally viewed as the most effective form of psychotherapy for treating most anxiety disorders, CBT involves the use of such techniques as: \nthought-stopping \ngradual challenging of irrational behaviors \nidentifying triggers and separating them from the feelings of extreme fear and the desire to avoid certain situations \nsystematic desensitization focused on the physical sensations of your anxiety \n"post-modern" therapies (such as Narrative and Solution-Focused models), which may help by placing the symptoms outside you and allowing you to tell a new story about them. \nPsychoeducation: One of the difficulties with OCD is the confusion about this disorder. It is frustrating for the individual and family members to manage a situation that is so misunderstood. An early and important part of treatment is getting a good education in what is known about this disorder. \nMedications: Certain anti-depressants (usually SSRIs) or other anti-anxiety medications have had good success with many people who suffer from OCD. It appears that these medications act
851251
eat more meat...sugar... and talk to your body..... you are in charge....,. your brain is stronger than the rest of the problems.... you alone can fix it and are in charge.... take control.
429342
Break the Habit\n\nBy isolating why you are biting your nails — and then briefly monitoring yourself under the same conditions — you will be able to stop your hands from automatically going to your mouth at certain times. If willpower isn’t enough, consider some of the following remedies and aids: \n\nPut a formula on your nails. There are several foul-tasting formulas on the market aimed at making your nails taste awful enough to turn you off of biting them — or at least alert you to when you do it unconsciously. Try CONTROL-IT! from stopbitingnails.com or MAVALA Stop. Be sure to apply the product regularly, so that the taste remains strong.\n\nKeep your hands busy. Idle hands will only serve to fuel your habit, so keep them busy. If you've found that you bite your nails when you are on the telephone, keep a pad of paper by the phone and doodle with a pen instead. Or get a desktop basketball game to keep your hands busy. We found one at http://www.exclusivegifts.com/html/executive_toys.htm. \n\nIf you bite your nails when you’re tense, consider adding a "stress ball" that you squeeze to your collection of desk toys and play with that instead. Or try Process Putty®, available from QPC Inc. The key is to do anything that keeps your hands busy and out of your mouth.\n\nChew gum or mints. If you are already chewing something else, you’ll be less likely to chew your nails (nail bits and chewing gum — eeew, bad combo). Keep gum or mints with you at all times, and when you find your hands going to your mouth, pop in a stick of gum or a mint instead.\n\nUse nail clippers. Nail biters are always tempted to bite off a sharp edge on a nail or a nail that is a little longer than the others. Keep nail clippers with you and use those instead. \n\nTry meditative cassettes. If all else fails, there are several meditative cassette tapes on the market that claim a high success rate in combating nail biting habits. Try Overcoming Fingernail Biting from Mind Over Matter or Stop Biting Nails from Talk Unlimited.
967219
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the REPETITIVE performance of an act to the point that it interferes with regular activities.\n\nBased on your data, you were cautious, not obsessive-compulsive.\n\nAs long as your skin is intact, you will be fine.
200991
See a therapist or psychologist. They can help you learn techniques for dealing with the underlying anxiety and ways to compensate for it that do not involve medication. Behavioral therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy can be very effective in treating OCD. It may also help to find some support in your area. Try finding an OCD support group in your area. Good luck to you and remember that with the right treatment and support, you can take back your life.
958294
It kinda sounds like OCD Obssessive Compulsive Disorder.\n\nWith the right meds you can control it.