Bipolar Disorder and OCD thoughts

Most people I know with bipolar disorder have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) symptoms.  They are normal.  

It’s hard to get OCD thoughts to stop- but I do have a trick.  If I’m obsessing about a person and the person’s name is going over and over in my head or something the person said is looping in my head- I just say to myself- “This will be over soon Julie. This isn’t forever. It’s the bipolar. Learn from this Julie and keep away from the trigger so it doesn’t happen again.” 

Sometimes this is easier than fighting and answering the thoughts themselves.

Julie





OCD and Bipolar Disorder

This illness is so much more than depression and mania. Most people with bipolar disorder have anxiety – and one of the main types of anxiety is obsessive compulsive disorder.  I have it often and it’s awful! It’s triggered by so many things- like where I am right now. I love football and watch as many games as possible.  The problem is that there are so many games on at once. The place I go has a lot of people and there are more than five games going at once. Everyone wants to watch their own team, so the bartender Kim has to do a dance every Sunday to try to please everyone.

This environment is one I truly love- but it’s also one that makes me ill. Unfair! My symptoms include: 1. Twisting my head all over the place to look at too many games. 2. Checking my phone to see if someone has [ Read More ]





Bipolar Disorder and Internet OCD! Facebook

I believe that I have to practice what I teach.

Every once in a while, I will try something new and think- oh, that’s such a great idea! It will be fun and will help my business. So, I started a FACEBOOK account. Well, if you read this blog a lot, I am sure you know where this is going. Fun for others can turn into a bit of an obsession for me. It’s not that I was obsessed with Facebook- it’s that my brain found it stressful. I am sure you know what I mean.  It was an experiment that I am glad I tried.  It IS good for business to get myself out there so that I can connect with readers. and it IS a good idea to keep up to date with my writing friends and their projects.

In theory.

 I want to stay well- especially when it comes to internet use.  [ Read More ]





Reader Comment: Bipolar Disorder and the Economic Crisis

I just received the following comment on the blog:

** 

I am unable to stop focusing on the economic situation. I can’t seem to stop worrying about the future and this is just feeding into my triggers. If anyone has a good suggestion about this, I would appreciate it.

** Wow, most of us can commiserate with this! I suggest that we all focus on and take care of the bipolar disorder side of the worrying – which will help with the obsessive thoughts.  This can help us view the economic crisis realistically.

If you read my past entries, I’ve had some terrific OCD problems this past month. Many of them were financial. That’s normal.  OCD symptoms simply mean that an obsession gets in your head and won’t stop talking and talking. This leads to fear that something bad will happen in the future. 

Most people have a worry and then it calms down so that they [ Read More ]





bipolar disorder and OCD symptoms

More About Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Six characteristics of OCD

1. Overestimation of Risk 2. Excessive feelings of responsibility 3. Controllability 4. Overimportance of thoughts 5. Intolerance of ambiguity 6. Perfectionism

People with bipolar disorder may share some of these characteristics. I certainly deal with 3, 4 and 5 regularly!

Julie





OCD and Bipolar Disorder

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 [ Read More ]





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