I have experienced OCD for most of my life, but I never really understood the term technically.
Many people with bipolar disorder have OCD symptoms, especially under stress. I know that my OCD obsessions come from dating situations, travel and work stress that puts me under too much pressure.
What is OCD?
The initals say it all- Obsessions that lead to compulsions that become a disorder when they affect a person’s ability to lead a ‘normal’ life.
Obsessions are thoughts- compulsions are the actions a person does to calm the obsessions.
For example, if a person has the thoughts- “I left the stove on. I left the stove on. Oh my god I left the stove on. My house will burn down. I left the stove on. I left the stove on.” the compulsion to calm the thoughts is to go back to the house to check that the stove is not on. Then for a minute, the person feels better and the obsessive thoughts stop. But if the person has OCD, the thoughts come back almost immediately and then the compulsion happens again.
It’s a terrible way to end. OCD can be treated with antidepressants and talk therapy- but it’s a tough illness to treat. People with bipolar disorder usually have OCD in episodes that are triggered by certain situations.
If a person with bipolar disorder has continual OCD symptoms without the mood swings, they are often diagnosed with bipolar disorder and OCD.
OCD is one of the seven classes of anxiety disorders which means it’s all about fear of what might happen. I treat my OCD by removing the trigger than causes the OCD- such as staying away from dating. This has really helped.
If you have OCD symptoms that don’t seem to go away no matter what your mood, it’s a good idea to see a psychiatrist. Remember, people with bipolar disorder have to be very careful about taking antidepressants, so make sure you have a doctor who understands bipolar disorder as well as OCD.
Julie
I too have OCD symptoms with having BiPolar as well. I have to live w/ counting, and I count just about everything, and I have to count everything 3 times. I cannot have fringe on things or else I will spend hours straigtening out fringe, one piece not straight – and I have to start all over. I do things in a methodical manner – when I do my medication box for the week, the meds go in in the same order each time. Until the Lamictal was increased I would go on shopping sprees in thrift stores and spend $60.00 or more on clothes. I still have clothes in my closet that I have yet to wear that I bought 2 years ago. When the counting gets too bad, I will listen to my mp3 player as I have found for me that I can’t listen to music and count at the same time. I have had to make conscious changes in my life to get some semblance of control over the OCD.