Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Faith-and-Hope]

Sitting with you @elyse ....,,

My "like" is an "I hear you" ......

Sending you thoughts of strength and courage.

[Shaz51]

sending you hugs @elyse 

[soul]

So sorry to hear that @elyse. Hoping that things move in a positive way for you all.

[Shaz51]

hello @elyse

how are you today my friend , is everything ok

[Faith-and-Hope]

Just checking in with you too @elyse .....

[Hopefulone]

Elyse,

I suffer from OCD as well. Has your husband done Exposure and Response Prevention therapy? It is the gold standard therapy for OCD. A few things to check out:

https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/treatment/erp/

https://jackieleasommers.com/ocd/

http://theocdstories.com/category/podcast/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MBcKI1_N_w

I am shocked your psychiatrist said your husband would get never better. Please have hope; many people have recovered despite believing otherwise, but proper treatment is needed! Please check the iOCDF page in particular, because they have information on finding competent therapists for ERP. 

[Faith-and-Hope]

Good morning @Hopefulone and welcome to the forums ......

Thank you for posting these links.  There is a OCD element to what my husband is challenged with at the moment, and it is hard to know where to find the right sort of information while he is, as yet, undiagnosed.

Keeping hope in place is the ongoing challenge of carers, along with caring for ourselves .....

🌷🌿

F&H

[Jess10]

Elyse - what a tough time you are having.  Severe OCD is so very difficult for the person suffering and those close to them.  In periods where my daughter was at her lowest I felt in a state of panic, but she told me that she needed me to be calm and to help her to be hopeful.  I found that really hard, but over time, I found myself able to do that.  I was also quite open with my own network about what was happening.  Quite a number of people then shared with me their own or their family members' experience with OCD.  This helped me to understand that while she would continue to have OCD, she would be able to learn how to manage it, so she would be in a better place when she had a relapse.  She is presently having a set back, but has nonetheless been progressively improving over past years - and is nowhere near where she was.  I tend to think about it as a helicopter view - big picture - rather than day to day - and she has come such a long way.  She and I have talked at length about the importance of making slow and steady progress which builds a very solid foundation for when you hit bumps, as you inevitably do fron time to time.  Finding a good practitioner for treatment is really important.  One of my friends told me that always having someone they have confidence in to go and see at these times is really important.  Two books that were really helpful to me were The Man who Couldn't Stop by David Adam and The Reality Slap by Russ Harriss.  Be kind to yourself in this difficult time.