This video library is dedicated in memory to those past and current OCD sufferers who have experienced OCD.

My OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) during this time was at it’s infancy stage but was slowly taking over my life during this time. I had no idea I had OCD all I knew was that each day I would feel uncomfortable pain in my tummy which I have discovered to be anxiety attacks today.

I can recall life being all over the place for me with very little stability and I was going from one thing to another. I remember being in my room and thinking about this apprenticeship. With the OCD I started to obsess about this apprenticeship and it continued hour by hour day by day. This would lead to an anxiety attack and for about 2 months this saga went on for. I wanted to do this apprenticeship but mentally I did not want to because I wanted to go away from the anxiety attacks so off I continued fighting myself and each time I had experienced an anxiety attack I knew the mind was winning the battle.

After about 2 months once I wore my system out with enough thoughts and OCD behavior to last someone a lifetime the OCD around this apprenticeship went away and I started onto something else. It would of been very easy for me to give up and give the apprenticeship away but sometimes in life you need to fight and be tenacious until what you’re fighting gives up. Source - Anxiety Attack - The big attack.

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Lets break this question in two parts. We first have Anxiety attacks and then there is OCD.

With my experience an anxiety attack does not happen if my thinking has been switched off otherwise no matter what you do you would encounter an attack. What triggers an anxiety attack in many cases is something you think about. How long do you think about what you’re thinking about and if you’re thinking about this over and over again is this where the OCD link is from?

With my personal experience dealing with both I do believe there is some form of repetitive thinking which is linked to OCD that happens and causes the anxiety attack. So if you’re thinking and experiencing anxiety attacks you may be experiencing a small form of OCD in which I recommend you see 2 Doctor’s to see what verdicts both come up with and analyze the results yourself after all you do want the best care possible.

Can you imagine for a moment how many people on earth are experiencing anxiety attacks that were triggered from continuously thinking about something without the person knowing they may be experiencing OCD.

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I lost 10 years of my life with OCD and it was a period of time I stopped living and let OCD run my life. I could not go out with anyone I liked because OCD would interfere hence anxiety attacks would occur so the best solution was not to date anyone I liked. If there was a particular job I liked and wanted to do I could not because OCD will kick and again it would cause an anxiety attack so to stop the anxiety attacks from happening I would need to move away from the cause.

I lived life like this for a long time and as I write this post I am nearing my 39th birthday and when I look back I feel like I am only 29 because of the time I have lost (which) feels like this moment in time was frozen) fighting OCD. If you have not been diagnosed for OCD but you can relate to many of the OCD and Anxiety related posts you read throughout my site observe your actions and if you need I suggest use seek medical help. OCD slowly creeps in and takes hold of your life and with what I experienced OCD can be cured and I am living proof of it.

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Some common thoughts people with OCD may face include?

• What if I hit my baby?
• What if I hurt myself?
• I don’t want to hurt myself?
• What if I’m gay? (in a person that is not gay, or vice versa)
• What if I beat someone up?
• What if I shoot someone?
• I don’t want to do what that person on TV has done.
• My thoughts are telling me to steal something?

For a person that is not suffering from OCD the above thoughts would come (if they ever do) and go quickly in the persons mind. With my experience someone who has OCD thinking about one of the above thoughts would cause stress and anxiety because the thoughts played out in the mind may seem real but they are not and by obsessing about them increases the obsession which in turn creates panic and anxiety all thanks to the OCD.

Even though I had experienced many of the thoughts above at no stage was I going to act on them because they were just that - thoughts that were controlled by OCD not like a person who had the intention to hurt someone and who carried this out. Thought based OCD are the hardest to manage. An example was in Melbourne in 2006 a man hopped into plane and teh plane was about to take off. As it started to move the man experienced an Anxiety attack even though it may not be related to OCD however he needed to get away from what was causing this and he attempted to open the plane door and jump out.

Common compulsions:

Some common-compulsions may include checking your car or house door, washing yourself over and over again, washing your hands over and over again, driving only in one side of the road, not walking on cracks in the footpath, taking your own cutlery to a restaurant, double checking your mail box etc

So what happens if you to don’t comply and do the compulsive actions such as the washing of the hands?

What I experienced is that if I didn’t wash my hands I would OCD about this over and over again where I then encounter an anxiety attack. By washing the hands over and over again just to convince the OCD they are clean stops the anxiety attack.

Below are two real life examples I had faced during an experience with common OCD thoughts and compulsions.

Thought Based - An OCD Scenario about hurting people – It was not something I wanted to do however the OCD around this was triggered by watching the news on TV and hearing about someone who committed such crime. I had to continue to obsess and be compulsive about this until it triggered an anxiety attack where then the compulsion would slow down and stop. You can’t walk away from a thought based scenario to stop an anxiety attack instead you need to go through the whole OCD attack.

Compulsion Based – A situation I faced many times over was to have a shower dry myself up think to myself I have not washed myself properly and so I would hop back into the shower dry up again and shower one more time. I had to repeat this so I can beat the compulsion in which then I would not experience an anxiety attack. If I did not shower again OCD would then increase which then in effect I would have an anxiety attack. Compulsion based OCD is easier to control than thought based because in most scenario’s you can move away from what’s causing it.

The compulsions and thoughts you do not want to happen (after all they are only thoughts) at the time of OCD seem real and for example if there is something you can do to stop the OCD such as washing of the hands you will do this as many times as you need to.

Common OCD Thoughts and Compulsions - Thought based OCD I found to be the hardest to deal with because what you think and OCD about you can not control the action however you need to go through the OCD in your mind and because for example you may OCD about hurting someone because you do not want to do this it becomes carry and real which then in my situation I would encounter an anxiety attack.

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OCD Pitfalls

If you know you have OCD and you need to see a specialist there are solutions to getting better and it’s up to you. If I can heal from OCD (which I thought was part of life) you can as well especially when I have had it for more than 10 years of my life with countless anxiety attacks each week for years on end. My case is not special however because some people have a far worse experience with OCD while others are not as bad as my case.The OCD pitfalls involve a number of things. This mental disorder can take over your life and cripple you from doing things you enjoy due to the limitations this mental disorder places on you. You may loose connection with your friends because they may not understand what you’re facing and your impression may be that they don’t seem interested.

Other pitfalls can be that you may stop living life and enjoying it’s full potential. In my situation I had found it difficult to hold onto a relationship and to socialize with other people and to do new things. Each time I attempted to do something if it caused OCD I would stop doing this just to avoid the anxiety attack.

If you have a family member or friend experiencing OCD be there for them, don’t push them to do things you may seem easy to do because in the eyes and thoughts of a person experiencing OCD this may seem an impossible task because if it is attempted that person may experience an anxiety attack.

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Situations that can cause OCD

I have found that with my experience with OCD there were a number of situations that had caused OCD.

The first was the thought factor. I could be watching the news on the TV and start to worry and obsess about a crime that was committed. I would worry about committing a similar crime and the scarier this thought became (knowing I did not want to commit this crime) the worst the obsession will get which would then end up with an Anxiety attack. I was never going to commit such a crime in the first place but it was the space I was in during this period of time with OCD.

The second for me was the physical factor. I could be having a shower and when I was finished drying myself I would think then obsess if I have washed myself properly then unless I hoped back into the shower I would encounter an Anxiety attack. This was easier to manage because to a point you were in control of the anxiety attacks. If you needed to hop back into the shower to avoid an attack you would do that. Another was washing of the hands and again the amount of washing was to avoid an Anxiety attack. These were patterns that had occurred but needed to be completed to avoid the feelings of Anxiety attacks.

The third was the controlling factor. This is around moving and doing things such as driving a car or going outside. I was fortunate I did not encounter this but the experience would be the same. If a person has OCD issues are germs then this obsessive and compulsive thought can be relayed to outside and the amount of germs there is outside hence it would eventually stop them from leaving the house. Once an attempt was to leave was made then the end result would be an anxiety attack.

Situations that can cause OCD can vary for different people. Anxiety attacks in most situations are the end result of OCD and they are avoided by many people at all cost. This would then mean that certain things will not be done to avoid this such as not going outside or not driving a car.

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Whether if you have meditated before or it’s your first time it’s a process that can be followed and one that works.

You can do this simple meditation technique at home by following a few simple steps. This meditation type is similar to Zen Meditation.

The very first thing you need to do is to play some relaxing music very softly.

Relax and close your eyes and take a few deep breathes.

With your eyes closed go to the spot where you think in your head and imagine a TV (any TV you like) and imagine there is no active channel. Slowly bring up an issue you have on your imaginary TV screen then when you’re ready let the issue disappear.

Slowly bring up another issue you have on your imaginary TV screen then when you’re ready let this issue disappear and keep repeating this process.

Keep meditating for a good 30 minutes until you feel fresher and relaxed before you commenced the meditation session. During this session you may notice your body relaxing with some if not all of your current OCD symptoms disappearing. Getting a few friends together and doing this meditation in a group is also another great idea due to the energies used during this session of mediation.

You do not need to hold your hands or fingers in any particular way while you meditate. Feel free to sit on the couch or the floor. I do suggest for you to hold your index and thumb together as a wake up indicator if you start to fall asleep as you notice your thumb and index finger drifting apart you can refocus and keep on meditating.

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Recovering from OCD

This is my story.

At 27 the family decided to travel overseas. As I sat in the plane there it was again I had experienced another anxiety attack. I lost count how many anxiety attacks I had experienced and I think I would of experienced over 3 a week for 10 years. Looking back at this I now know that I was a strong willed person to get through this awful experience.

The straw that broke the camels back for me was when I was holidaying on an Island. The only think I would OCD about is how I was going to get back home catching the ferry. I OCD about this for days when one day I was outside steering out in teh ocean and OCD about this when bang I had one massive anxiety attack and I broke down no longer about to live in thjis state. After som nay years of OCD and anxiety attacks my body no longer can handle anymore.

I told my mum I was not feeling well and went and seen a Doctor. I went and saw a few and none had an idea what was going on. One Doctor in particular wanted to send me to a German hospital but I knew there was nothing wrong with me just an imbalance of some sort then my Nana found out and she recommended me to see her Doctor. After 10 minutes I was told what I had that had crippled me for many years - OCD. The Doctor prescribed Anafranil and after 2 weeks it all started to go away. What was unusual was it took me 6 months to get used to feeling normal and doing things without anything effecting me whatever I thought about or witnessed on TV - Wow what an experience that was.

I was not fortunate to try recovering from ocd using an alternative healing modality as at the time I did not know an alternative or spirituality had existed.

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OCD Triggers

I only can talk about my experiences and I think the best people that can write or talk about a subject like this is someone that has experienced something like this. Below I will talk about my actual experience with OCD and I will start with saying I did not wake up one morning with OCD.

MY OCD encounter was as follows:

1. I remember when I was about 10 when I first encountered my very first anxiety attack.

2. Anxiety attacks came and went in tiny numbers until I was about 16.

3. My first major OCD attack was around when I was about 19 years old which was around my apprenticeship which I had to fight the attacks to survive for three months. I was OCD’ing about doing this apprenticeship and had to fight my inner thoughts and the anxiety attacks.

After this OCD took over my life until I was about 27.

I did not know what an anxiety attack or OCD was was until I was diagnosed when I was 27. When I told family about what I was experiencing I was told I would be ok. It never occurred to me to seek medical help. If you are experiencing OCD don’t despair there are solutions to get your health back on track. Depending what you’re OCD triggers are you may need to be aware of the triggers and it may be an idea to keep this information written down in a book somewhere.

Please seek medical help if you are suffering from OCD the longer you leave this condition untreated the worse it may become.

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