OCD and Reflections on September 11th

by Steven Phillipson, Ph.D.

In general, when real life delivers a crisis, persons with anxiety disorders, and specifically those with OCD, tend to manage these crises somewhat more effectively than the population at large. The very nature of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the mind’s relentless and endless effort to process and prepare for the most extreme nightmarish scenarios. The anxious mind compels people to mentally anticipate the worst possible scenario and not the negative outcomes which life typically delivers. Our usual world predominantly delivers circumstances to us which don’t come close to matching the level of negativity that people with OCD consistently prepare themselves for.

Subsequent to the September 11th tragedy, it has been my observation that the general public is reacting in a more exaggerated way than would a person with OCD. The general public has been hit by this real life crisis in a way that’s caught them completely unprepared. So now, for those who do not have OCD, white powder, possibly representing bio terror, low flying planes, and being above the tenth floor of any building, presents an association of their own vulnerability to the extreme of terror. In contrast, persons with OCD tend to be biochemically fixated, on the theme of their previous condition prior to September 11th. For example, their neuro-chemistry could be a lot more distressed about the potential of suffocating their own child, or of possibly being gay, than with managing the ambiguities of white powder or low flying planes.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #7

by Anonymous

Lesbians Everywhere: A gay spiker confronts her pure-O theme about getting an answer to her sexual orientation question

This particular tale of OCD begins with a crush on a boy named Sam.

I was a very happy girl. I was about to graduate at the top of my high school class, spent bags of time with my friends, and was enjoying my crush, of course. Sam, however, didn’t like receiving my attention as much as I liked giving it. About four months after we met, I heard from a mutual friend that Sam was gay.

I was a bit depressed and slightly embarrassed. Sam hadn’t turned out to be the love of my young life. Mostly, though, I felt relieved to know his true colors, and hoped that he (and I) would be happy with future boyfriends.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #6

by Anonymous

From prisoner to gate keeper…A woman exposes her children to perceived risks so that she might liberate herself from the confines of OCD and pursue a career in psychology.

During my second pregnancy, at age 18, I experienced the onset of OCD. This 18 year time lapse is due to the following reasons. During this time period there was progressive expansion of peculiar feelings, fears and behaviors and I had no concept that these symptoms related to any disorder. I didn’t even know there was such a disorder as OCD. I thought I was overprotective (giving away my children’s puppy to keep them from harm), a worrier (spending fruitless hours problem solving what hazards threatened them), and a little off the wall (I wouldn’t let them visit friend’s houses who had pets).
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #5

by Anonymous

A responsibility OC combats her obsessive concerns for harming others while managing medical school.

I was born with OCD. My mother tells me that as a toddler I would pull out my hair. This was probably baby trichotilomania, which is associated with OCD. For almost 30 years OCD caused me mental anguish that I’m sure only few people can appreciate. My story is probably not an unusual one for sufferers of OCD. It’s replete with pain and confusion, difficulties with family and friends, and extreme fears that strike others as ridiculous and bizarre. Professionals misdiagnosed me more than once.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #4

by Anonymous

I was a happy little baby until it was time for first grade. I woke up everyday with a knot in my stomach that was only relieved by vomiting. I was scared of the teacher, of my fellow students, and of doing poorly. My first obsessive incident soon followed, and although I don’t remember, my father tells me that I used to throw fits every morning because I could not decide what to wear. Dad took away all of my outfits except two and the problem was solved. Unfortunately, there was more to come, as I began to develop physical habits; I breathed strangely, I did things with my feet as I walked, I crossed my eyes and I made noises in my throat. I did these things because I wondered “should I make a noise?” Or maybe I shouldn’t make a noise. Do I need to make a noise? I would make one and feel fulfilled for about three seconds. Then the voices would return, and the process would continue every second of every day. My parents and I began therapy but only discussed my nervousness and my daily separation from my mother.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #3

by Anonymous

I am grateful for the opportunity to give a testimonial about my therapy with Steven Phillipson. I’m not a person given to hyperbole. But to say that Steven Phillipson changed my life is no exaggeration. My big problem was responsibility OC: an intense feeling of responsibility for the safety of others (and myself). I would check kitchen gas jets countless times to see if they were off. I would warn family members and friends about possible adverse effects from illnesses or drug combinations — and repeat my warnings many times for fear they didn’t understand my point. I would feel an urge to call the city transportation department every time I saw a pothole or a broken traffic light. Of course I knew that my thoughts and actions were problematic and undesirable. But I was powerless to change course.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #2

by Professor Mike

I am presently fifty-four years old and have suffered from OCD since I was fifteen. Although originally a native New Yorker, I have been a college professor in the Deep South for at least twenty years. During my life my OCD has focused on different issues: e.g., concerns about scratches on eyeglass lenses, whether eyeglasses were properly adjusted, wristwatch straps that might cut off circulation, inappropriate noises in the environment. This last concern became so severe that eventually chronic obsessing about the origin of neighborhood noises prompted at least one relocation.

I have seen several psychiatrists. None of these really offered a therapy that worked. I have tried the following drugs at one time or another: elavil, limbitrol, sinequan, Ativan, Valium, Xanax, Prozac, Zoloft. Although some of these drugs relieved the anxiety and depression which accompanied my OCD, none eliminated the root cause of my distress which were obsessive thoughts and rituals. They also had bad side effects. Currently I take no drugs.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Success Stories – #1

by Margarita, a graduate of Dr. Phillipson’s Behavior Therapy Group

My OCD. This is how I refer to this “Disorder.” I put it in quotes because I have a very hard time accepting that it is a condition that I did not bring on myself. I mean, I always thought that my obsessiveness was me — brought on by me. But I guess it doesn’t matter whether it is a mental condition, or a way of thinking which became a habit. What is important to me, is that I take steps to change.

By steps, I mean risks. I learned of the concept of risk taking for treating OCD in my therapy sessions with Dr. Steven Phillipson, a clinical psychologist at the Institute for Behavior Therapy, in New York City. The key element of the treatment is learning to live with uncertainty. It is taking the risk of not ruminating (problem solving) about things that I am afraid might happen. If you will notice, most obsessions concern things that we are not sure about. For example, I can obsess endlessly about people that I think may not like me. The subjects of my obsessions are usually people I don’t know well but that I come in contact with on a regular basis (e.g. neighbors), so I could never really know whether they do or do not like me. With therapy, I learned to say “Yes, maybe the neighbors don’t like me, but I’m not going to take the risk of ruminating about it, and I will not attend to any other thoughts related to these people.”
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Dance with the Devil – Strategies for Managing OCD’s Anxious Moments

By L. Potter and the Friday Night Group

To understand the motives and rules of the devil of OCD is to gain an edge over it. Here is its game plan:

1. To seduce you into doing its bidding by promising that relief is just around the corner and only one more thought/ritual will resolve the dilemma and give more than momentary relief.

2. To exploit moments of weakness that come at the worst possible times in your life, i.e., when you perceive that it will be disastrous to become anxious.

3. The more you struggle to get away, the more power you give the OCD to choke you.
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HAIR PULLING a.k.a. TRICHOTILLOMANIA – A simple habit or a complex diagnosis?

by Steven Phillipson, Ph.D.

What is Trichotillomania?
Trichotillomania (TM) involves the anxious pulling or removal of body hair, to such an extent that it produces a disruption to one’s life functioning. This insidious condition is associated with feelings of depression, shame, anxiety and disgust. Individuals with this condition often engage in social isolation and other extensive efforts to mask the perceived damage that the hair pulling has produced. The term “trichotillomania,” refers specifically to the final event (i.e. removal of body hair) in a sequence of behaviors or experiences that lead up to the actual hair pulling. Although hair pulling is most often associated with the condition, there are a number of individuals who engage in elaborate hair cutting episodes that are intended to bring about symmetry or perfect evenness. Trichotillomania, although often conceived of as a simple habit, has baffled behavioral psychologists and produced only moderate success in treatment outcome studies.

It is our belief that this seemingly simple condition is actually an enigma. We believe that the historical lack of success in treating this disorder can most likely be attributed to the “one size fits all” treatment approach implemented in most research protocols and clinical settings. A common shortcoming in the profession of psychology is the tendency for researchers and clinicians to create paradigm-based, rather than empirically-derived, models that pertain to the understanding and treatment of certain conditions. People who invest a great deal of time training in one conceptual paradigm, tend to process most conditions through their own bias. It seems that after buying a hammer, the world is full of nails. The truth is that cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is not effective in treating everything and not everything that seems bizarre and out of control is OCD.
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