Home | Community | Message Board

Sporeworks
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
InvisibleStriplessRED

Registered: 09/05/07
Posts: 562
Loc: Helena
OCD, Anxiety, Stress
    #12578027 - 05/17/10 09:40 AM (13 years, 9 months ago)

Hey Shroomerites

I've come to realize I have no one to help me along with this and the Shroomery is the only place I can talk about these issues openly.

All my life I have been quite a victim of my own OCD. As a child my shoes had to be tied just the correct tightness and I could only wear a single color with no logos on any of the clothing.
I have always been so obsessed about the cleanliness of my skin that the consistent washing and cleaning leads to bleeding. I pick at blackheads and bumps on my skin until the damage is worse than before I started; there usually isn't anything there to begin with.

Really it's more of a physical appearance OCD, that's where my problems stem from.
I have woken up, for the last 4-5 years, 1-1.5 hours before I need to just to make sure my hair is satisfactory. This leads to a lack of energy throughout the day due to lack of sleep, which leads to more problems.
My morning routine:
I take a shower
    -shampoo
    - let conditioner sit until I finish soaping my entire body (5+ minutes)

Then I get out and towel dry my hair and finger comb it to how I like it.
I will then not move my head abruptly for the next 1-2 hours to ensure my hair drys the way I want it.

I hate this. I am a straight male, but my obsession with my hair is ruining me. I have not left the house before because my hair didn't dry correctly.
It's hard for me to talk about this to anyone because it is so embarrassing. I tell myself not to care what people think and a lot of the time I don't care, but I will not be satisfied with myself until everything is right in my mind. It leads me to depression and anxiety.

A quick google search brought up the word: Automysophobia. The fear of being dirty. I believe I suffer from this and it hinders my quality of life greatly.

Has anyone suffered from the hair issue? It's the one I need to work the most on because it is the most troubling. I don't really have a conflict with the dirt problem, I have been working on the lately successfully.

Keep in mind I have never been diagnosed, or even seen a medical professional, about any of these issues.

Please help me Shroomery

Edited by StriplessRED (05/17/10 09:43 AM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineSilverSwami
Mystical Wanderer
Male User Gallery


Registered: 04/11/09
Posts: 350
Loc: NSW
Last seen: 8 months, 26 days
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: StriplessRED]
    #12578043 - 05/17/10 09:43 AM (13 years, 9 months ago)

my friends got that thing about his hair... its weird... once he got a haircut and refused to go outside his house for 2 months...
but yeah dude just let it go... go get dirty somewhere and just accept the reality of it...


--------------------
Yes.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleStriplessRED

Registered: 09/05/07
Posts: 562
Loc: Helena
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: SilverSwami]
    #12578058 - 05/17/10 09:46 AM (13 years, 9 months ago)

That's the problem, I'm having a real hard time just letting it go :\

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleAdden
I'm a teapot

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc: Flag
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: StriplessRED]
    #12578363 - 05/17/10 11:11 AM (13 years, 9 months ago)

Cognitive behavioral therapy.

You'll learn triggers, mechanisms of coping, ways to remove the irrational fears and worries and replace them with logic.

I've got my fair share of OCD traits but am not full-blown... it's taken quite awhile to get over some of the most minor obsessions. On the other hand though I have a slew of other worries.

There's no medication to help you with this. Find a therapist that specializes in this area and one that is not a pill pusher. No SSRI, benzo, etc will help you in this endeavor.

It's all in your head and you need some help and direction. The best part of cognitive behavioral therapy is that a therapist will just give you the tools, and then it's up to you to use them.

If you really want this to go away - which it sounds like you do - I'd find someone to talk to. The most important part about mental distress, disorders, stress and whatnot is the feeling of being alone. The world seems small. It's really not, and I know that might be a difficult concept because I've been there and wasn't able to understand it at the time.

Your anxiety may just be tied to your OCD. I'd definitely recommend focusing on the OCD first, in hopes the anxiety will fade over time as you make yourself better.


I hope this helps a little bit.. it's tough to hear that the only person that can conquer this is you, but god dern it, you'll feel like a champ once you do.

Your mind has the power to create your reality.



Dystopia

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleStriplessRED

Registered: 09/05/07
Posts: 562
Loc: Helena
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: Adden]
    #12580387 - 05/17/10 04:59 PM (13 years, 9 months ago)

Thank you so much :smile:

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Invisibleappleorange
Rainbow Technician
 User Gallery


Registered: 12/30/07
Posts: 4,868
Loc: Reykjavík
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: StriplessRED]
    #12580519 - 05/17/10 05:18 PM (13 years, 9 months ago)

For some people it's hair, for others it might be washing their hands, OCD can manifest in so many different ways. For me personally, it was orange juice. I had to constantly check the orange juice in the fridge to make sure I had the cap on tight enough.

The reason for OCD is that the sense of self feels vulnerable and insecure, it tries to reinforce its existence through repititive acts over and over.

OCD is not easy to get over. A good step in the right direction would be to begin putting a time limit on how long you fiddle with your hair. Say 15 minutes or something. After 15 minutes, just walk away despite how strong the desire may be to still keep tinkering around with your hair.

I also recommend you take up something like zazen to help settle your mind a bit.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineSolemente
Male


Registered: 04/24/09
Posts: 4,337
Loc: Flag
Last seen: 3 years, 17 days
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: appleorange]
    #12581592 - 05/17/10 08:15 PM (13 years, 9 months ago)

I started shaving my head about a year ago because my hair really started to annoy me. I haven't looked back since.


Just a suggestion.

Edited by Solemente (05/17/10 08:16 PM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleStriplessRED

Registered: 09/05/07
Posts: 562
Loc: Helena
Re: OCD, Anxiety, Stress [Re: Solemente]
    #12581779 - 05/17/10 08:48 PM (13 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

Solemente said:
I started shaving my head about a year ago because my hair really started to annoy me. I haven't looked back since.


Just a suggestion.




I've actually come to the realization that I don't want to keep my long hair forever, why not change now?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Anxiety!! TimeTraveler 1,869 9 08/13/04 11:11 PM
by TimeTraveler
* Shrooms and Mental health (anxiety problems in particular) Dave21 3,778 3 05/30/04 08:10 PM
by TinTree
* The third largest psychological problem in the world
( 1 2 3 all )
Fungi_x 11,445 44 06/01/04 10:32 AM
by MOTH
* Pot for anxiety? Lyte it Up 420 4,075 16 05/06/03 03:20 PM
by Raadt
* Summary of How To Handle Stress, Anxiety and Fears CleverName 846 0 05/22/04 05:34 PM
by CleverName
* Best drug for social anxiety (help please)
( 1 2 3 4 all )
Mickel 17,332 63 05/21/03 09:00 PM
by SBTlauien
* left arm numb, blackouts, nosebleeds.. can stress cause this vivid 4,748 14 09/13/04 12:00 AM
by Gillette
* results of battling out my social anxiety..... shr00m 2,892 10 08/18/13 01:36 PM
by nhmi

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: CherryBom, Rose, mndfreeze, yogabunny, feevers, CookieCrumbs, Northerner
780 topic views. 1 members, 0 guests and 3 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.032 seconds spending 0.009 seconds on 15 queries.