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What is OCD (Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder)? Can people with OCD also have panic attacks? Are people with OCD who have unwanted thoughts about hurting someone at risk of acting on their fears? Is compulsive self-damaging behavior a form of OCD?  OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is a common mental wellbeing disorder capable of influencing people’s thoughts perceptions and behaviors. Not only does the condition impact the person dealing with the disorder. This may also influence his or her friends, family, one’s co-workers, and classmates.

Panic attacks may be found in OCD, but an underlying diagnosis of panic disorder should not be recognized unless the attacks occur out of nowhere. Many OCD patients report the experience of panic attacks after reaction to terrifying stimuli, such as a blood sign of someone with an AIDS addiction. In comparison to the panic disorder, the person in this case is not fearful of the panic attack; he or she is afraid of the consequences of the infection. There appears to be a discussion on the connection between "compulsive" self-damaging habits and OCD compulsions. As present, self-mutilation habits (e.g. extreme nail biting) should not be called compulsions until the diagnosis of OCD is made. Similarly, actions that actually cause physical harm to others are outside the boundaries of OCD.

If they really have OCD, the conclusion is no. Patients with OCD may have unreasonable concerns of acting on aggressive and inappropriate impulses, but they may not act on them. This act of violence is the most abhorrent thing they might picture. When treating an individual with aggressive or terrible feelings, the clinician will determine, based on clinical experience and medical background, whether these experiences are obsessions or part of the fantasy life of a potentially violent person. If this is the above, the patient needs support to regain self-control, not reassurance.

If dealing with any mental health conditions, reading about the disorder is the best place to start. Just because you’ve seen OCD depicted in shows or movies, it doesn’t imply you completely grasp the condition or effect that OCD has on the person with it. “People who live with OCD drag a metal sea anchor around, obsession is a break, a source of drug, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function.” -David Adam. “It’s like you have two brains- a rational brain and an irrational brain. And they’re constantly fighting.” -Emilie Ford. Like certain conditions, OCD can appear somewhat different from person to person, and keeping the mind open may help to improve the understanding of the disorder. For more knowledge, spend a lot of time listening to your loved one. Try to understand what they might be going through and how OCD makes them feel and act. Obsessions are persistent and uncontrollable feelings or perceptions that give rise to some degree of stress and anxiety, because the feelings are so unpleasant, the person is trying to stop or overcome them with thought or action. At this level, do not try to change their actions or question their way of thinking. Give affection, attention, and compassion to hear about their unique experience and to increasing whatever deception they use to cover up their symptoms.

Compulsions are act’s that people feel compelled to do to regulate obsessions or to avoid obsessions from becoming a reality. The connection between addiction and urge makes sense to the adult, but it may appear unconnected or irrational to an outside.  “It’s like listening to a CD with an invisible scratch.” -Penny Hare. It’s not your job to treat your loved one, you just need to focus on being caring, loving support that they can use in their treatment and recovery. If you try to do too much your loved one could push back. One example is; A person could have obsessions about a loved one getting cancer, so they will create the compulsion of turning on and off a light switch three times to manage the fear. To your loved one, the association is real, but you realize there is no way a light switch could prevent cancer.

Compulsions involve a wide range of repetitive behaviors or mental act like, Checking and double checking, tapping and touching, washing, counting and/or repeating words or phrases to self. Most individuals may have minor obsessions or compulsions, but they can work all day. A major indication of diagnosable OCD is the tendency of an individual to spend large amounts of time on a person’s day. Because of the time needed to complete compulsions, the person may; Fail to complete tasks at home, school, or work, be late to appointments frequently, avoid scheduling events or committing to plans, seem distracted and stressed, and never leave their room or home.

No matter how the OCD of an individual shows, we should always treat them with respect and kindness because we will never know what it is like to deal with this mental illness. This means that we need to be mindful of the terms we use for individuals who have OCD. What we’re doing can either be very hurtful to them. Or it can life them up and encourage them to stay on the road to recovery. Here are eight saying we should not ever say to someone with OCD; One, “I’m so OCD”. Two, “You should just relax”, Three, “But you’re so messy”, Four, “That doesn’t make sense”, Five, “It’s all in your head”, Six, “You don’t look like you have OCD”, Seven, “Can’t you just stop”, and lastly eight, “I do that too, and I don’t have OCD. “It can look like still waters on the outside while a hurricane is swirling in your mind.” -Marcie Barber Phares. “It’s like a broken machine. Thoughts go in your head, get stuck and keeps going around and around.” -Megan Flynn. Most people with OCD fall into one of the following categories: Washers: are afraid of contamination. They usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions, Checkers: repeatedly check things (oven turned off, door locked, etc.) that they associate with harm or danger, Doubters and sinners: are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right something terrible will happen, or they will be punished, Counters and arrangers: are obsessed with order and symmetry. They may have superstitions about certain numbers, colors, or arrangements, Hoarders: fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don’t need or use. They may also suffer from other disorders, such as depression, PTSD, compulsive buying, kleptomania, ADHD, skin picking, or tic disorders.

Some thoughts and behaviors people think or do who have OCD. Common obsessive thoughts in OCD include: Fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt or contaminating others, Fear of losing control and harming yourself or others, Intrusive sexually explicit or violent thoughts and images, Excessive focus on religious or moral ideas, Fear of losing or not having things you might need, Order and symmetry: the idea that everything must line up “just right”, Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky. Common compulsive behaviors in OCD include: Excessive double-checking of things, such as locks, appliances, and switches, Repeatedly checking in on loved ones to make sure they’re safe, Counting, tapping, repeating certain words, or doing other senseless things to reduce anxiety, Spending a lot of time washing or cleaning, Ordering or arranging things “just so”, Praying excessively or engaging in rituals triggered by religious fear, Accumulating “junk” such as old newspapers or empty food containers. The way you react to your loved one's symptoms of OCD can have a major impact on their outlook and recovery. Negative comments or criticism can make OCD worse, while a calm, supportive environment can help to improve treatment results.

Avoid making personal criticisms. Remember, your loved one’s OCD behaviors are symptoms, not character flaws, don’t scold someone with OCD or tell them to stop performing rituals. They can’t comply, and the pressure to stop will only make the behaviors worse, Be as kind and patient as possible. Each sufferer needs to overcome problems at their own pace. Praise any successful attempt to resist OCD, and focus attention on positive elements in the person’s life, Do not play along with your loved one’s rituals. Going along with your loved one’s OCD “rules,” or helping with their compulsions or rituals will only reinforce the behavior. Support the person, not their compulsions, Keep communication positive and clear. Communication is important so you can find a balance between supporting your loved one and standing up to the OCD symptoms and not further distressing your loved one, Find the humor. Laughing together over the funny side and absurdity of some OCD symptoms can help your loved one become more detached from the disorder. Just make sure your loved one feels respected and in on the joke, don’t let OCD take over family life. Sit down as a family and decide how you will work together to tackle your loved one’s symptoms. Try to keep family life as normal as possible and the home a low-stress environment.

                                             Work Cited:

  Christiansen, Thomas. "How to Help Someone with OCD | The Recovery Village." Alcohol & Drug Rehab Programs & Facilities - The Recovery Village | The Recovery Village. The Recovery Village, 21 Sep 2019. Web. 7 Mar 2020. <http://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/ocd/related/how-to-help-someone-with-ocd/#gref>.

"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - HelpGuide.org." HelpGuide.org. Web. 7 Mar 2020. <http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm>.

"OCD Quotes, Sayings about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (30+ quotes) - CoolNSmart." Sayings and Quotes - CoolNSmart. Web. 7 Mar 2020. <http://www.coolnsmart.com/ocd_quotes/>.

This very soul is what we are born to protect, 

To grow with the energy of God. 

To prepare for eternity, 

Not panic at the shortness of life.

These very souls,

Of the people we love, 

And of those who love us,

Is what we will strive to love, to nurture. 

This post can also be called - 'backward world-building' - because it's basically drawing inferences from the scenes in your head.

I just had this thought when I was writing plot material today. Why not try to build some of the world from the scenes I already have? This might seem kind of funny, because if you didn't do it that way, then your world and your story would feel disjointed. What other way is there, right? But this is reading between the lines.

    Micro-analyzing the atmosphere of your scenes and building the story world around it. Going down to details like 'that vase in the corner of this room' and wondering who made it - if it's a completely magical world with nothing common - and how, too - because magic sort of changes things.

     Every scene you write will have micro and macro details. Macro details become clear because of some prior world-building, most of the time. Micro details, on the other hand, have the potential to let you know something about the world  - a particular niche of the world you're building.

      Then again, this is is no way a substitute for hard-core world-building. But it may get your world-building to the next, more detailed level. If you try this out, tell me in the comments!

        KEEP WRITING!

Find more like this over here!   

                       Come, come and lead me to the glowing path;

                       Where dreams of all comes true,

                       Where the reality surpass.

                       Where the light of desire meets the supernatural,

                       And the journey is not very uncomplicated and factual.

                       A challenging yet essential decision to make,   

                       Which way is real, which one is fake?

                       I ask myself the same question repeatedly, 

                       Why am I not enthusiastic steadily?

                       For all I am a wanderer; a nomad

                      Yearning to go back to my homeland.

                      But the quench for exploration stays with me

                      The farther I go, the clearer I see.

                      Wanderlust has struck me to a great extent, 

                      Makes coming back from it absolutely recalcitrant.

                      The path of glory; the path of success,

[The usual metaphor for a journey. Photo is mine.] The life in which nothing happens goes the fastest, because it has no landmarks. ~~Katherine Tynan The last time I reached a milestone, my 600th post, was on Feb. 3, 2023 (at 9:17 PM). Looking back, I have been writing about 100 every several years…it’s been fairly consistent, surprisingly. My first attempt at writing blogs was July 2012. At…