The DSM-V is a catalog of mental health disorders as determined by the American Psychiatric Association with the input of many mental health experts around the world. The way it works is it identifies symptoms (behaviors we engage in and our internal experience of thoughts, feelings, and sensations) and clusters them into groups. It […]
by Brenda Kijesky, LCMFT
While these symptoms may make you feel as if you’re going crazy, you are anything but crazy. You may think that you are the only one who experiences these feelings; however, you are far from alone.
“OMG, I’m dying!”
“I think I’m having a heart attack!”
“People probably think I’m crazy!”
“I’m afraid I’m going […]
Moral scrupulosity OCD, or the relentless pursuit of certainty about one’s morality, can feel like a truly impossible situation. You have a thought about something you did or thought about doing, or felt an urge to do, and so forth, and because this experience doesn’t line up with your presumed identity as a moral […]
It’s that time of year again! If you live anywhere near me, the days are shorter, the, weather is colder, and the OCD is counting the ways it can get to you. It’s the most… (jingle jingle) obsessive tiiiime… (jingle jingle) of the yeeearrrrr…
The several weeks of time between Thanksgiving and New Years, or […]
When I was a kid, my parents had their driveway repaved and this left a glorious mound of dirt at the top of it for a few days. It was probably ten feet tall and I was clearly told not to play on it, but the moment my mom and dad were off running […]
Mindfulness, or learning to view thoughts and feelings as observable phenomena instead of “the truth” or “threats,” has been instrumental in my journey through OCD. But it was only in the last five years or so that I really started meditating. This was spurred in part by the fact that the $200 I cleverly […]
By Molly Schiffer, LCPC
Currently you may only know the suffering associated with Health Anxiety OCD, but through the right treatment, there is hope of learning to appreciate the way your mind works.
One of the things I find most heartbreaking about working with some of my OCD clients is that the disorder has ripped from […]
It can be argued that many forms of OCD come down to a fear that lack of vigilance could lead to a loss of identity. One with Harm OCD may worry that failure to catch that one impulse could lead to spontaneous discovery that he/she is a violent or harmful person. One with sexual […]
Once you understand Hyperawareness Obsessions and how the mind has gotten stuck, you can learn to stop doing what makes sense instinctively (the mental equivalent of flailing about in quicksand) and do the mindfulness and CBT work that can help you get grounded again.
Your whole life you were one way and now you appear […]
About OCD: For individuals with OCD, having a label for their OCD is a way for them to join with others and feel a part of a group with fellow sufferers.
by Molly Schiffer, LGPC
When I meet clients for the first time they often arrive at my office with some mixture of trepidation and despair, […]
