Miserable Racists

[Michael]

Here's one for you Ken. What if these people who are or become obsessive compulsive are this way because their system ( using a computer comparision ) is acknowledging a hidden truth, that everything is built on order. Part of them realizes it, and more importantly realizes the importance of it but due to synaptic pathways already built, ie.abstract ie junk pathways, ie the long road, are performing in a bad way.

[ken_behrendt]

Michael...

I think that the latest thinking about OCD is that it is a form of anxiety disorder. The victim really feels very insecure and this leads to the repetitive, mindless behavior that, once it is completed, helps lower the anxiety of the victim. The problem is that the performance of a "ritual" only gives short term relief and actually makes the condition worse in the long run. No matter how much instinctual need for order a person might have, it is not normal to be unable to walk down a sidewalk because one must avoid stepping on any of the cracks. It is similarly not normal to be phobic about things such as black cats, the number 13, or that one must repeat certain phases or gestures to avoid calamity in one's life. And, of course, having to open all doors by using one's foot instead of hand on the door knob so as to avoid being "contaminated" with germs is not normal. It's good to wash one's hands several times per day, especially before eating. However, there are some OCD patients out there that are washing their hands several hundreds of times per day!

I think I read somewhere that there is a new theory that people with OCD might have a deficiency of endorphins in their brains. This neurotransmitter plays a critical role in making a person feel confident and in control of their life and situations. I remember seeing a documentary a couple of years ago about some doctor in California that found that when he gave his worst OCD patients low does of morphine sulfate (only 10 milligrams a few times per week), a major percentage of them experienced complete remission of their OCD symptoms and the rest a great lessening in the severity of the obsessive thoughts and behavior.

Apparently, morphine has a chemical structure very similar to the brain's naturally produced endorphins and taking the morphine supplement fooled the OCD victims' brains into thinking their endorphin levels were higher. Unfortunately, much of the medical community is not using this new therapy, but continues to treat OCD patients with anti-depressants. These, generally, do not work well for severe cases.

My treatment for OCD is simple. Just say "STOP" whenever a urge to mindlessly repeat some ritual comes along. It takes some effort, but, if one can continue to do it for several days, then I think they will see a BIG improvement in their symptoms. Perhaps it is these rituals which depress the endorphin levels to start with and then the depressed levels set the stage for further OCD symptoms. It becomes a vicious cycle. I think breaking the cycle, even for a few days, might be able to restore a victim's endorphin levels back to normal.

Of course, once again, I must emphasize here that I am not a medical doctor (and never wanted to be one!) and that these are only my opinions. If a person is already being treated by a physician with other medications for OCD, then they must adhere to the plan that the doctor has for them. Suddenly stopping the use of any prescribed medication can have serious, possibly life-threatening, consequences. But, anybody unfortunate enough to be suffering from a severe form of OCD might want to do as much research into the subject as possible. There are a variety of treatments available nowadays and, perhaps, there is another one that would be more effective for him if his present one is not relieving the symptoms enough.


ken

[terry5732]

I would tend to disagree with your assessment of anti-depressants not working. Everyone that I have known that has taken them for any length of time is now dead and not worrying about any depression or other disorders. I would have to say that anti-depressants are the leading cause of suicide. Bet there won't be a study of this by a pharmaceutical company though. Come to think of it, I don't know of one person who killed themselves who wasn't being 'treated'. Ya spose mebbe UBLs boys are gettin some anti-depressants?

[ken_behrendt]

terry...

The whole issue of prescription medication is a controversal one. Personally, I avoid them because practically all have side effects and, I suspect, are yet another source of cell damaging free radicals inside of the body.

However, there are a small percentage of "good" drugs out there which can greatly aid in the relief of symptoms and restore a person to near full functionality. The problem today is that there are scores of new drugs in the "pipelines" of the pharmaceutical companies and, often, they do not receive what I consider to be adequate study of their long term benefits and safety. The case of the drug Vioxx immediately comes to mind.

Many people find that when they take a drug, it is only effective for a short time, perhaps months or years, and then it suddenly does not work as effectively anymore. Apparently, the body attempts to compensate for the metabolism altering affects of the drug as the patient builds up a "tolerance" to it. The danger of something like this is that, if the patient was to suddenly stop using the medication, then there can be a "rebound" effect as his altered metabolism now is producing a counter effect to a drug which is no longer in the system.

The more I study the matter, the more I am convinced that about 90% of the problems that people have could be quickly and permanently solved with proper nutrition and exercise. And, of course, eliminating unrelenting stress from one's life is important too as is proper sleep. Stress, when brief, is, I believe, actually beneficial to the human body. It's kind of like gunning the engine of expensive European sports car to blast the "gunk" out of the cylinders. Body builders dramatically increase their muscle mass by periodically stressing the muscles by making them overcome a heavy resistance. However, if a body builder tried to do that everyday for 8 hours in a gym, he would become "overtrained" and would actually begin to lose muscle mass! I think the same applies to the stresses of life. Each of us needs to take periodic breaks from the stresses we are under so that our minds and bodies can restore themselves and in the process, slowly, become stronger.

If I was to try a prescription drug, then I would only want to use the minimum amount necessary for the minimum time necessary. Once the drug stabilized my symptoms, I would study everything I could about the problem and then try to set about correcting it naturally. Of course, there will always be some problems for which this approach will not work and the person may have to be medicated "for life". That's not necessary too bad a situation just so long as their doctor is carefully monitoring their progress on the medication and testing to make sure that it is not doing some damage to their internal organs.

Again, I must stress that if someone is using a prescription medication for a problem, then any changes in the use of that medication MUST be done under the direction of the physician who prescribed it. It's is never a good idea for the patient to modify his use of a medication without consulting the physician. Many people who have done things like this have had adverse reactions.



ken