Book review: Overcoming OCD: A Journey to Recovery. By Janet Singer with Seth J. Gillihan.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a book written by a woman who I met through blogging and who has inspired me with her advocacy for educating others about OCD.

The book is Overcoming OCD: A Journey to Recovery, by Janet Singer with Seth J. Gillihan.

Janet writes a blog called ocdtalk, where she discusses her experiences as a parent of a son with OCD and their journey to find help. She also keeps readers updated on research being done on OCD. And she is an advocate for Exposure and Response Prevention therapy, the leading therapy for OCD.

In her book, Janet writes about Dan’s journey from being unable to eat, from lying on the floor for days at a time, caught in the snares of OCD, to reaching a diagnosis of “mild” OCD and being able to have a fulfilling life.

Dr. Seth J. Gillihan is an expert in treating patients with OCD and other anxiety disorders. In addition to having a clinical practice, he is a clinical assistant professor of psychology in the Psychiatry Department of the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting assistant professor of psychology at Haverford College.

Gillihan gives readers the “facts” about OCD: what it is, what the symptoms are, what treatments are available, what problems people seeking treatment might face, and more.

The abiding theme of Overcoming OCD is hope. But Janet isn’t feeling much hope when her story begins. Her son Dan has struggled during his first year of college, and Janet visits him to try to help.

She is shocked by his haggard appearance and his obvious anxiety. And she is shocked when they reach the motel where she is staying, and he is unable to climb the concrete steps up to the second floor.

Step by step, slowly, she helps him up the steps. Then he says he’s unable to come into the motel room. She pulls him into the room.

“And so our journey began,” she writes (p. 2).

Janet knew her son had OCD, but she had never seen it manifested in such debilitating ways. Dan couldn’t eat, couldn’t use his cell phone, couldn’t drive, and couldn’t go to certain places. His promising future in animation—a dream that he had had for years—seemed in jeopardy.

Janet and her husband Gary and the rest of their family rallied around Dan and supported him on his road to recovery, which was never linear and never easy.

Dan spent about nine weeks in a residential OCD treatment center, and Janet and her husband struggled with staff who seemed to be leading Dan to a life of lower expectations. The treatment center did give Dan a good foundation in ERP therapy, providing him with tools to fight his OCD.

The family moved to Dan’s college town so that they could be there to support him. He saw a number of doctors and was on a number of medications. Side effects of some of those medications put Dan into a medical crisis and delayed his recovery.

Janet learned to speak up and ask questions of Dan’s caregivers. She did her own research. She interviewed perspective doctors to find the right fit for Dan. She supported Dan in the tenuous dance of being independent but getting the help he needed to fight the OCD.

And she and Gary remained Dan’s cheerleaders and advocates, supporting him unconditionally without enabling him in his OCD.

I read Janet’s blog, so I know that Dan is now doing great, with mild OCD. He graduated from college and has a job that he once dreamed of.

But as I read her book, I felt a taste of the anxiety that Janet and her husband felt as they watched their son sink so low that they never thought he’d come back. I felt the anger at the lack of caring and lack of knowledge that some so-called experts displayed in treating Dan.

I also wanted to reach into the book and tell Dan, It’s going to be OK. I guess that comes from my own experiences with having OCD and having to fight my way to better health.

Janet’s story makes it clear that ERP therapy, sometimes with, sometimes without medication and other therapy, can help those with OCD become more than their OCD. They can live fulfilling lives despite having OCD.

But she shows that one must search for and sometimes fight for good mental health care. Her story makes it clear that there’s still so much education needed of even medical professionals about how to best diagnose and treat OCD.

Gillihan’s explanations are very helpful, especially for those not familiar with OCD.

I really didn’t want to put this book down after I started it. It’s inspirational, absorbing, and just a plain good story.

Parents with children who have OCD would particularly benefit and would be reminded that they are not alone in their journey. The beneficial role that family support can play is well illustrated.

I would also highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about OCD and to those with OCD. I found myself relating to so much of what Dan experienced.

Throughout the journey that Janet and her family took with Dan, family friend and clinical psychologist Mark was a godsend, a person who offered information and hope to the family. In her book, Janet writes, “If you are going to have a mental health crisis in your family, I recommend having a close friend who is an amazing clinical psychologist” (p. 25).

I would add that having a family like Dan’s would help those suffering through a mental health crisis see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Overcoming OCD: A Journey to Recovery is published by Rowman & Littlefield. 2015. For information about ordering the book, go HERE.

Sharing our secrets

Our second batch of leaves awaiting town pickup.

So many more leaves left to fall.

Somehow, I let my blog anniversary pass without remark. Nov. 14 was my third “blogiversary.” The time has flown by for me. I really have a hard time grasping that I’ve been a part of this blog community for so long.

Before I wrote my first blog post on Nov. 14, 2011, I had never shared a lot about my mental health with others.

As I began posting on the blog, as much as I wanted to be as open as possible about OCD and depression, it was difficult for me to decide what to share and what not to share, and how to express myself.

I had spent a good portion of my life hiding my OCD. Occasionally, I shared with a friend that I had OCD, but I never offered details about what that meant for me in my daily life.

I was a little more open about my depression because that seemed to be a bit more acceptable to others, but, again, I shared few details with others.

I have become more comfortable writing about how OCD and depression fit into my life and how I deal with them. I am more comfortable sharing how I live my life while “bringing along” these mental illnesses.

Recently, I discovered that talking about OCD with another person—speaking about it instead of writing about it—is a whole different experience for me.

As I was talking with this person, I felt more self-conscious about revealing the details about OCD than when I write about them.

Just speaking out loud about OCD jarred me. I heard the words coming out of my mouth, giving explanations about obsessions and compulsions, and I thought, “This disorder is weird. What is this person going to think?”

The experience was a positive one, and I’m glad I talked about OCD. Each person I talk to, each person who reads my posts, may learn a bit more, may understand this “weird” disorder a little more.

And if the person is experiencing OCD symptoms, then maybe he or she can be encouraged to get treatment.

I was reminded that sharing such secrets—which we could argue shouldn’t be secrets because having OCD is nothing to be ashamed of—with others isn’t easy.

We have the right to privacy. There is nothing wrong with keeping close to our hearts things we don’t want to or need to share with others.

But for me, sharing my secrets can help show others they are not alone.

Have you ever found relief in revealing a secret?

Let’s be aware

This week (Oct. 5-11) is Mental Illness Awareness Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness and educating people about mental illness.

There is so much more awareness about mental illness now than when I was younger. I remember being told as a child that certain people were in the hospital because they “had a nervous breakdown.” And it was usually said in a whisper.

I had no real idea of what a nervous breakdown was. But it sounded bad, like a loss of control, like something to pity. It definitely sounded like something that should be kept a secret.

In reality, it was a secret kept by people who thought having a mental illness was something to be ashamed of.

When I was first diagnosed with OCD and depression in my mid-20s, I was ashamed. I thought if others found out, they would think I was deficient, weak. So I told only a very few close friends and family. Even with them, I brushed it off as just a little problem that I was taking care of with medicine.

The secretive way I handled my mental illness kept me from getting the full help that I needed.

For example, I didn’t want to get into a lot of therapy, including cognitive behavior therapy, because I’d have to ask off from work. How could I ask off for a doctor’s appointment if I didn’t look physically ill? I wouldn’t lie about it, but I couldn’t be honest either.

Several concerns kept me from getting the treatment that I needed when I was younger, but my fear of being stigmatized was part of it.

Nowadays, people talk about mental illnesses much more openly. Advocacy and education are still necessary—there are a lot of misconceptions out there, a lot of blaming—but the atmosphere for discussion has improved.

With discussion, stigma can lessen. We can ask each other questions and listen to each other’s stories. We can learn that we’re not the only one feeling certain feelings and thinking certain thoughts.

We can learn that we’re not alone.

Being aware is a big deal for me. So I’m happy to lend my voice to awareness of mental illness this week and beyond.

For more information about mental illness, check out the website of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Oct. 9 is also National Depression Screening Day. If you even think you’re depressed, please get screened and get help. And pass the word to your friends.

Let’s all be aware.

Bringing along my camera

I got my camera out yesterday.

I decided the night before that I would take pictures outside around our yard before going into the newspaper office, and then more when I got home.

I have had a hard time lately following through with my intentions. But this time I did it. Something in me wanted to get outside and see things in ways I do only when I have a camera in hand.

Acorns scattered on the driveway. Larry cleans them off, but more take their place.

A pile of acorns here. Maybe it's a nature-made buffet for the deer and squirrels.

A close-up of the acorns that seem to fall almost constantly. I'm glad to see them. Last year there were very few for the animals.

The leaves aren't changing as quickly as I thought they were. This tree in the backyard is starting to show some red.

This tree in the neighbor's yard is going to be lovely once it all turns.

It was drizzly when I took my morning pictures. By the time I got home from the office, it was pouring. So I didn’t get my after-work pictures. But I worked around that.

Earlier, I had to drive out into a rural part of the county to interview a person for a story. On the way to this person’s house, I noticed some things I wanted to photograph.

There aren’t many good places to pull over on these country roads. The ditches are often too near the roadside for a safe pull-over, and trees and other foliage tend to hug the road.

But a fence I wanted to photograph happened to be across the road from a church, so I pulled into the driveway and took photos.

 

A fence in rural Campbell County. You can barely see the barbed wire because of the growth around it.

The fence must not be keeping anything in or out right now. It ended with a post wrapped in extra barbed wire.

A few weeks ago, in a comment, my friend Janet from ocdtalk shared a link to an article called “Photography as a Balm for Mental Illness,” by Aimee Lee Ball. It’s discusses the reasons that photography can be so helpful for those struggling with mental illness. You can read the article HERE.

I can relate. It feels so good to create something. And focusing on what I want to capture, and how, puts me in the moment, with a mind too busy to focus on anything negative or fearful.

Since I finally captured a photo of a fence, I’m linking up with Theresa’s Good Fences meme on her blog, TheRun*Around*Ranch Report.

It’s fun to see the fences and gates that people have found on their daily adventures. To link up yourself or to see some fun photos, follow the link HERE.

Do you enjoy photography? Why or why not?

Protective factors and making it through life

My view from the front steps of my office building on a recent evening.

Do you ever wonder how you got from your childhood to where you are now in one piece?

I get emails from people who have found my blog and want to know more about how I deal with OCD and/or depression and anxiety.

I am not a medical expert or a therapist. I am a person who has mental illnesses. I try to share my experiences with different treatments and different ways that I have dealt with OCD, depression, and anxiety.

It still surprises me, though, that I seem like someone who has reached a place where I can be of help to anyone else. Like someone who has a good life in spite of having mental illnesses and setbacks along the way.

Believe me, I have not overcome all the obstacles that mental illnesses cause. I’m still trying to figure out who I am.

But I have managed to build a good life.

What helped me do that?

Despite some difficult times during my childhood and teen years, I had the benefit of protective factors.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines protective factors this way:

“Protective factors are individual or environmental characteristics, conditions, or behaviors that reduce the effects of stressful life events. These factors also increase an individual’s ability to avoid risks or hazards, and promote social and emotional competence to thrive in all aspects of life, now and in the future.” 

The CDC lists the protective factors of school connectedness, parent engagement in schools, and positive parenting practices. There are more, of course.

Recently, I’ve written about two parts of my life that I define as protective factors for me. I had people in my life—whether related to me by blood or not—who helped to nurture me and encourage me as a young person.

And I had books that taught me and inspired me.

Knowledge about protective factors comforts me.

As a young person, I had help in several forms that led me to eventually get treatment, begin thinking in different and healthier ways, and start living the life that I wanted to live.

All of that help didn’t have to come from the ones we think must provide it, our parents.

We all have protective factors that help counteract the bad times in life. We can celebrate and nurture those factors.

I wasn’t alone as a child. I’m not alone now.

And neither are you.

So how did I make it from childhood to where I am now in one piece? With a lot of help along the way.

What are some of the protective factors in your life?

People who helped me survive

If I look at only the negatives in my life—mental illness, dysfunctional family, emotional and verbal abuse—it’s easy to think that all of life is negative.

But if I consider that despite those negatives, I managed to accomplish many things and am an adult doing what I hope is good work, then I have to admit that I had and have many positives going on in my life, too.

How did I survive and in many ways flourish? How did I reach the point where I could seek help for myself and gain self-understanding?

For starters, I had people in my life who provided love, hope, support, structure, encouragement, smiles, consistency, trust, and values. Even when I was a lonely, scared child, there were people around me who cared and showed me that they cared.

My first grade school picture. I loved school and found acceptance there.

 I decided to compile a list of some of those people who were positive influences on me when I was a child, a teenager, and a young adult. Looking over this list reminds me of how I’ve been blessed, that all of my life has not been negative.

*My great aunt Ida. I wrote about her and her iris garden a couple of years ago. I stayed with her and my uncle quite a bit as a child when someone in the family was in the hospital. With her, I felt safe and cared for.

*My best friends’ mother, Barbara, who I wrote about almost a year ago. She treated me with respect by listening to me and showing interest in me. She encouraged me.

*The first Sunday school teacher I had. She showed interest in me, too, and never tried to dissuade me from coloring everything in purple. She never forgot that purple was my favorite color.

*My elementary school teachers. I was blessed to have good ones overall, and school was a source of happiness. I have especially fond memories of my second grade teacher, my fourth grade teacher, and my fifth grade social studies teacher. They allowed me to follow my curiosity and do more work than was assigned.

*My high school English teacher who taught me for three years. She encouraged me to think big about my future. Her choice of me for the English Award when I was a sophomore helped my self-esteem more than she ever knew.

*My first-year suitemates at the University of Virginia. They showed me that not everyone came from a family like mine, that there were other, and better ways, to interact with people and enjoy life.

*My friend D in graduate school at Bowling Green State University. She encouraged me to seek counseling by telling me that she had gotten counseling. I figured if someone as pulled together as she was could sometimes need help, then I could seek it too.

*My first talk therapist. I revealed things to her about the way I was raised and how depressed I was that I had never talked about with anyone else. She was also the first person to whom I revealed my OCD symptoms. She helped me to begin to move past unhealthy ways of thinking. She also referred me to a psychiatrist.

*My first psychiatrist. She formerly diagnosed me with depression and OCD and started treatment. She called me “high functioning,” which surprised me at the time. Now I realize that she saw more strength and capability in me than I did.

*My friends A and B in graduate school. They treated me with respect, spent time with me just hanging out and having fun, and encouraged me. They reflected to me that I was a valuable person. And they showed me other ways of living life than I was used to.

We never know when we can be a strong, positive influence on someone else’s life. We never know when the small things we do for others turn into big things for them.

Writing this post made me realize how much I want to be a positive influence in the lives of others.

In the comments section, name one person who had a positive influence on you as a child or younger person. Let’s remember together!

Just a reminder: My new blogging schedule is to post on Mondays and Thursdays. So I will see you again on Thursday.

Gardening, knitting, books, and hints of fall

Hello, dear readers. I’m finishing up the week with a hodgepodge of things that I’ve been doing and observing:

Our garden is just about over for the summer. Larry picked these cucumbers and peppers Thursday morning.

We were disappointed that the tomatoes didn’t do well. We also didn’t get any broccoli or fully-grown carrots. But we learned some things that we’ll put to good use next year.

***

The scarf I started knitting has morphed into a kitty blanket. I started out with a width that I thought was manageable and suitable for a scarf. But I quickly found that it’s almost too wide to keep on my needles.

I also discovered that it’s the right width for Chase Bird’s kitty bed that sits under the sofa table in the living room.

So it will be a soft blanket for Chase Bird to lie on.

***

Last weekend I read an excellent book by Elyn Saks: The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.

Saks is a law professor at the University of Southern California and has many more professional accomplishments.

In her book, she writes about her life with schizophrenia and how she built a life with work, friends, and love while battling it.

I didn’t want to put the book down. It was hard to read in places—she describes her psychosis with honesty and detail—but the way she fought through it to a good life is amazing and inspirational.

If you enjoy memoirs, you will enjoy this book.

***

We’re already seeing some acorns from the oak trees in the front yard. I’m so glad to see them. I hope we have a good crop this year for the animals. And I hope fall weather is not too far away.

This week’s weather in Central Virginia gave us a taste of fall—daytime temperatures in the 70s and low-mid 80s and some of the nights dipping into the 50s. I love fall, and I can’t wait for it to arrive.

But hotter weather is returning next week. Oh, well. Soon.

One thing about this time of year I don’t enjoy: allergies. I’m allergic to ragweed, and apparently, it has arrived. Itchy eyes, sneezing, sniffling—you get the idea.

Are there any signs of fall where you live? Do you even want to think about it? And what have you been up to this week?

We're talking about depression

The news and social media have been full of talk about depression and suicide for the last couple of days. I’m glad that there are some awesome discussions going on, and people are talking about subjects that many feel are better left alone. But I am sorry that we are talking about these things because of the death of someone.

I was so sad when I heard about the death of Robin Williams from suicide. Multiple news reports indicated that he had been experiencing severe depression.

I first watched Robin Williams in the television show “Mork and Mindy” in the 1970s. I was a young teenager at the time. I remember being amazed at his energy, his ability to improvise—he was so different from any other actor I had seen at that time.

I always enjoyed his performances through the years. He was truly gifted.

And yet, he was suffering, too.

I don’t have anything profound that I can say here today. But here are some of the thoughts I’ve had:

*If anyone would have been able to “snap out of it,” to “just think about something else,” it would have been someone like Robin Williams.

Depression is serious. It is not something that a person can just “get over” with sheer will or positive thinking.

*If anyone would know how to find help for depression, it would be someone like Robin Williams. He had the means and the ability to find help.

Depression is formidable. It can make people believe that no help would be enough, that they are beyond help and beyond hope. And even in the midst of treatment, people can feel great despair.

*Because it is so serious and formidable, we need to learn more about depression. We need to help people get effective treatment. We need to be open about depression, talk about it not in whispers but in open conversations.

Here are some resources for more information:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Institute of Mental Health

Peace to Robin Williams and to his family. Peace to all the suffering, whoever you are.

Stigma about yourself

Bring Change 2 Mind is an organization that works “to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness.” I believe in their mission and message, and I follow them on Facebook and Twitter (@bc2m).

I keep seeing their message about a Stigma Free Summer, which they explain on their website: “BC2M wishes its community a #StigmaFreeSummer. Let's start conversations, reserve judgment, extend empathy and end stigma.”

The definition of stigma, according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, is “a mark of shame or discredit.”

There are people who feel like having a mental illness is like having a mark of shame or discredit. A stigma.

Stigma about mental illness sometimes is directed by people who are misinformed or careless toward people living with mental illness.

Sometimes it’s people living with mental illness who direct stigma at themselves.

Over a year ago, I wrote a post about “Depression and lingering stigma.” In that post, I wrote about my struggle to reach the point of asking for help:

“Because no matter how many times I’ve gone through these bouts of depression, I still doubt myself. I still tell myself that I should be able to deal with this depression on my own, without a doctor’s help. After all, I’m already on an antidepressant. After all, I should be able to rise above it, snap out of it.

Yes, I sometimes buy into the stigma about depression.”

I’m not feeling the same now as I did when I wrote that post. My depression is under control.

But I am experiencing a lot of anxiety and intrusive thoughts, connected to my damaged relationship with my mother.

I don’t doubt the decision I made. But I’m having trouble adjusting to it. I think I’m grieving, in a way.

And I haven’t wanted to write about it on this blog or tell others about it. I have feared that I should be able to deal with it better since I reached a decision after all the years of therapy and soul searching.

Maybe I was dwelling on it too much. Maybe I wanted to feel bad. Maybe I should just snap out of it. That’s what I’ve been thinking.

Self-stigma.

I’d like to be a part of a stigma free summer. So you may see more posts here about how I’m healing, what I’m experiencing, what I’d doing about the guilt that still plagues me emotionally, though rationally I feel OK.

Maybe I will start some conversations. Maybe I will remind someone else that he or she is not alone in having confusing feelings.

Let’s get rid of the stigma.

The importance of getting treatment for mental illness

Sometimes I get emails from readers of my blog, asking me for advice on how to deal with OCD, other anxiety, or depression.

I am always happy to tell them what works for me. I am not a medical professional, but I do have personal experience with mental illness and treatments. So I try to share.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that not everyone is in treatment or even thinking about treatment.

I’m not going to make a blanket statement and say if you have a mental illness, you need to be in a certain kind of treatment.

But I will say this:

If you are having a difficult time coping with daily life, if life seems dark and just gets darker by the day, if you have intrusive thoughts, if you are abusing substances such as alcohol, if the ways you usually cope with the bad times aren’t working, then I believe you need the help of professionals.

For more information about when to seek help, check HERE and HERE.

When I first got therapy, I didn’t have health insurance. This was back in 1988, and I was a graduate student in Ohio.

With the encouragement of a friend, I contacted student mental health services at my university and started seeing a psychologist on staff. It was the first step in understanding the pain I had been in for years. It was the first step in a very long journey to a new way of being.

I was able to see this psychologist free of charge because I was a student at the university.

Eventually, she told me she thought I needed the help of a psychiatrist for my continuing depression and for the OCD symptoms that I finally revealed to her. She referred me to a doctor in a nearby town.

I paid out of pocket to see the psychiatrist, who gave me my “official” diagnoses of depression and OCD in January 1990. I was 26 years old.

I started taking medication while continuing my talk therapy with the psychologist.

I slowly began to see light at the end of the tunnel.

I moved back to Virginia in July 1990, and it wasn’t easy to get the mental health help I needed. I wouldn’t have health insurance for three more years.

But I worked with what Virginia has, a community system of mental health professionals which I could access on a sliding scale. In other words, they looked at my income and billed me according to what I could afford.

It’s not a perfect system. Not all mental health professionals are created equal. But I got some individual help and even took part in some group therapy.

I went for long periods of time without active therapy. I stayed on my medications and had good times and bad times.

I read Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz’s book Brain Lock back in the 1990s, and that helped me a lot with OCD. I began to learn more about meditation. I read a lot about mental health. I began to understand how spirituality didn’t have to be a hindrance or a burden, but could actually help. I began to understand how my relationships with family members and others hurt me rather than helped me.

Eventually, five years ago, I decided that I needed therapy again, and my family doctor recommended my current psychiatrist to me. He encouraged me to get some help from a psychologist on staff, which I did.

I delved deeper into studying and writing about OCD, and I learned a lot about how the disorder was affecting my life.

My mental health has probably improved more in the past five years than in all the years since I saw my first therapist in 1988.

I know the health care system in the United States is not always kind to those who need mental health services. I am blessed to have insurance that covers such care.

I encourage anyone who is having a difficult time mentally to reach out for help. To find referrals to mental health professionals, you might want to start with your medical doctor, a social worker, a teacher, or a minister or rabbi or other spiritual leader.

Make sure he or she is someone you trust and who understands the needs of those with mental illness. Walk away if they don’t take you seriously or try to minimize your problems.

Look on the Internet for help. For example, on the website of the International OCD Foundation, you can find a lot of information about OCD as well as a database of therapists who can help those with OCD.

Other online resources for finding treatment providers include Mental Health America and National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The right treatment can put you back on track. It can enable you to live the life you want to live.

That’s what it did for me.

Note: Where have my photos gone? I haven't been taking many photos lately, but I am working to change that and will have photos with my posts again!

After the break

I took this photo of Chase Bird with my cell phone in February. I didn't take many photos during my break except those for the newspaper.

Hello, dear readers. I hope you are doing well. I’ve missed you during my two-week break!

I enjoyed the freedom from the routine of writing a post three times a week. I use that word “freedom” carefully. I love blogging and I love the interaction with readers, but I found that I needed a break from the routine, even though I love that routine.

I’ve done a lot of thinking and soul searching during my break. I’ve wondered about the future of my blog and my work.

I started my blog in November 2011 with the purpose of educating others about OCD and offering encouragement to those with OCD. At first, I mostly wrote quite specifically about OCD or the accompanying depression and anxiety that I experience.

Gradually, I started to write more about my daily life. I think the change happened logically and organically. By that I mean that it happened naturally.

I have wondered if I am of any help to those who have OCD, depression and anxiety. I have wondered if I am giving a false impression about what my blog is about. I’ve wondered if I should somehow re-label my blog, even change the title. I’ve wondered if I should keep blogging.

But I am still a woman with OCD. I still fight depression and anxiety. Though I’m in a good place, mental illness still affects me, my daily choices, my health, my outlook.

I love the connections of blogging. I love writing something that someone in another part of the world can respond to. I love learning about how others think on different topics. I love connecting with people I never would have if not for blogging.

I still believe in connection. I still believe that all of life is interconnected. I still want to help others feel less alone.

So I’m going to keep on blogging. I may decide to make some changes, and I still have a lot to consider. If any of you have any suggestions for me, I’d appreciate the input.

Meanwhile, here are a few other things I did during my blog break:

*Took Chase Bird to the vet to get his rabies shot. That’s a whole other story.

*Finally got my books sorted and put up on the bookcases we have now. Suggested to Larry that he needed to build some bookcases for the books that are still in boxes.

*Got our taxes done.

*Received an “adventurous” newspaper story assignment. Again, a whole other story.

*Got more snow, but I didn’t have time to play in it.

*Read three more John Sandford books and did various other reading.

Let’s not leave out anyone

You may have heard in the news last November that a Virginia state senator, Creigh Deeds, was attacked by his son at his home before his son killed himself.

The CBS news program 60 Minutes did a story on Creigh Deeds and Gus Deeds Sunday night, and it shed more light on what happened in November and how the U.S. is not equipped with resources to properly care for those with mental illness.

In a segment called “Nowhere to Go: Mentally Ill Youth in Crisis,” Creigh Deeds tells his story about trying to get help for his son. Creigh Deeds got an emergency custody order, which lasted just six hours, to get his son to an emergency department in Virginia, but he and his son ended up going home without the help Gus Deeds needed.

The next morning, Gus Deeds attacked his father with a knife before shooting and killing himself.

The story notes that most people with mental illness are not violent. The story focuses on those “who are a danger to themselves or others.”

You can view the segment or read the script HERE.

The Virginia General Assembly is now in session, and one piece of legislation that Creigh Deeds has proposed would extend the length of time of an emergency custody order to 24 hours. Another piece of legislation would “establish an acute psychiatric bed registry that will provide real-time information on the availability of beds in public and private psychiatric facilities and residential crisis stabilization units for individuals who meet the criteria for temporary detention.”

In the 60 Minutes interview, Creigh Deeds said, “There’s just a lack of equity in the way we as a society, and certainly as a government and insurance industry, medical industry, with the way we look at mental health issues.”

I agree with him. What can we do about that?

Here are some suggestions:

*Find out what is going on in your state with mental health services. Are they adequate? Do they meet the needs in each community?

*Support legislation that would improve services.

*Be a friend to those in your life who have mental illnesses. Be the kind of friend that you are to those without mental illnesses.

*Remember that there is much more to a person than his or her mental illness, just as there is much more to a person with diabetes than his or physical challenge.

*Seek help if you have any concerns about your mental health.

*If given the opportunity, be a voice for those who have mental illness. Remind others that those with mental illnesses deserve the same kinds of sympathy and help that those with physical illnesses deserve.

Thank you for reading this and for your support of me on this blog. 

OCD Awareness Week 2013

Thank you, dear readers, for the sympathy and support you showed me this week after losing Sam.

I appreciated each message and each kindness. You reminded me that while most of us don’t know each other “in person,” we forge connections in this bloggy world that are important and strong.

It was a very difficult week for Larry and me. We are still in a daze. It all seems to have happened so fast.

Soon I will write more about what has been going on.

But right now it is easier to write about something different.

The week of Oct. 14-20 is International OCD Awareness Week, promoted by the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF).

I want to use this opportunity to bring awareness to an often-misunderstood disorder.

According to the website of the IOCDF, one in 100 adults and up to one in 200 children in the U.S. likely have OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. The website goes on to say, “OCD can be a debilitating disorder, but there is treatment that can help. Unfortunately,it can take up to 14–17 years from the first onset of symptoms for people to get access to effective treatment, due to obstacles such as stigma and a lack of awareness about mental health, and OCD in particular.”

One of the IOCDF's social media signs.

I first exhibited symptoms of OCD when I was a young child, perhaps 7 or 8 years old. I was not diagnosed until I was 26 years old.

I counted compulsively, tried to pray constantly, asked forgiveness over and over, confessed to thoughts I might have had, washed my hands until my hands and wrists were red and raw. I spent an inordinate amount of time checking for things that might be dangerous to others. I read and reread schoolwork over and over.

I hid my symptoms the best I could. My parents thought I was being disobedient and contrary, wasting water, wasting time, not doing my schoolwork like I was supposed to, asking seemingly silly questions over and over.

Treatment, including medication, therapy and self-help have brought me a long way from the hellish days when OCD was a constant, strong force in my life.

There also seems to be more awareness about OCD among the general public.

But some that of that awareness oversimplifies this very serious disorder. OCD is not about being super-organized or neat.

This misunderstanding helped to guide the IOCDF in creating social media posters for this year’s awareness week: “Popular culture is fond of using the phrase "I'm sooo OCD" to mean someone who is a perfectionist or a neatnik. But rarely do people understand what it really means to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.”

I have written about the different manifestations of OCD that I’ve experienced. Below are links to some of those posts is you’d like to learn more about the way the disorder has affected me.

Counting

Washing

Praying

Checking

Hit-and-run OCD

Reading OCD

OCD about religion

I hope you will also check out the website of the IOCDF for more information.

Besides me, have you ever known anyone with OCD?