382 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
382 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
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ݱ11 May 90±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±_ROR_-_ALUCARD_±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±Ý? Þ°
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Ý Ý A Þ°
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Ý M E N T A L T O R T U R E Ý ?Þ°
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Ý Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder A ßßßßß°
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Ý Uncontrollable Thoughts & Actions Interrupt Lives Tfile Þ°
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Ý Typed by: Doctor Murdock Distribution Þ°
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ÜÜÜÜÜ Original Author: Joan Morris Centere Þ°
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Ý? Þ Further Psych. Studies: Dr. Sheldon Jones - RoR - Þ°
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Ý A Þ_____________________________________________________________________Þ°
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Ý ?Þ Shawn-Da-Lay Boy Productions, Inc.úúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúÞ°
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ÝÜÜÜÞÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÞ°
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°°°The HQ of SDBP, inc - 415/236/2371°°The Electric Pub - 415/236/4380°°°°
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°Primary Drop Sites°°°°°°Rat Head - 415/524/3649°°°°°Primary Drop Sites°°°
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In Susan Stafford's mind, people die. They are horrible
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Deaths, full of torment and torture.
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At times, she sees herself aboard an airplane moments before it crashes.
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They passengers are calm, smiling, unsuspecting. Only Stafford knows what
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is about to happen. As the plane slams into the earth, people cry out to
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Stafford for help. Bloody, charred hands reach out to her. Screams ring in
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her ears as she watches death arrive.
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Sometimes it is strangers that she watches die. Sometimes it is people she
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loves. Sometimes it is herself who pitches into a long, searing journey to
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death.
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"I don't remember a time when I didn't have those thoughts," Stafford
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says. "Five minutes wouldn't go by that I didn't have a lengthy thought about
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my death, their death. When I slept, I had nightmares. I would dream and I'd
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feel like I was dead. I'd wake up and still feel dead."
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Stafford is one in about 5 million people in the United States with
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obsessive-compulsive disorder. The disease has been recognized in medical
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books and literature for more than 300 years, but is only now being understood
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and successfully treated.
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THOUGHTS THAT TORTURE
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---------------------
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Dr. Lorrin Koran, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford and director of the
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university's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Clinic, said 1 percent to 2 percent
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of the nations adult population has OCD, making it more common that
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schizophrenia or anorexia.
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People with OCD are tortured from within. Obsessive thoughts -- terrifying,
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horrible, insanely repitive -- fill their heads. Compulsions force them to
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act, over and over again.
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Dr. Sheldon Jones, a psyciatrist at Mt. Diablo Hospital's Center for
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Behavioral Medicine and a doctor with the California Psyciatric Medical
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Group Inc., says the public doesn't understand the illness. People use the
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words Obsession and Compulsion to describe common, and normal things.
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Someone who likes to bet on baseball games is called a compulsive gambler.
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Someone who spends hours zapping winged turtles and punching down building on
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Nintendo is said to be obsessed with the game.
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Jones says those people may have obsessive-compulsive personalities. The
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difference between that type of personality and someone with OCD is pleasure
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and the ability to walk away, Koran says.
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"The word obsession come from the Latin 'to besiege.' The mind of the
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person is actually besieged," Koran says. "Obsession are not pleasurable.
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They are painful, distressing and disturbing. if they could stop, they
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would."
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IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR
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-------------------
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His real name isn't Steve. He is 38 years old and he doesn't remember a
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time when he didn't have some type of compulsion. Steve, who lives in the
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Livermore Valley, wants to tell of his OCD nightmare, but he is worried that
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people will think he his crazy if they knew the truth about him.
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Steve's compulsions involve symmetry and numbers. Before he could study in
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high school and college, every pencil on his desk had to be sharpened to the
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same length and lined up in exact, even rows. The lamp had to be placed
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precisely in one corner -- not too close to the edge, not too far into the
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center. The closet door had to be opened just a bit -- not too much, not too
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little. Only Steve knew when it was exact.
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"You hate what you're doing. You passionately hate it, but you can't stop
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it. You are aware it's irrational but you can't stop," Steve says.
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NUMBER OBSESSION
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----------------
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It might take hours of arranging and rearranging before Steve could get down
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to studying. Then the numbers would start.
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He would read page one, then he might read it again. That was OK. He might
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read it a third time -- still OK. But the fourth time he read it, he would
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feel that panic starting to build. The fifth time was still OK, but if he
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read it a sixth time, he was in trouble.
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"To me, six and seven were bad numbers. You couldn't stop doing something
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on six or seven. Eight is a good number. So is nine, and 10. But 10 isn't
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that good because it's getting close to 11, and 11 and 12 are bad numbers.
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Sometimes I'd read a page 44 times before I could stop. Just talking about it
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now I'm ready to rip the table. It drives you crazy," Steve says.
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That is the most frustrating thing about OCD, Steve and Stafford say.
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Unlike some other emotional illnesses, those that are afflicted know that what
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they are doing doesn't make sense. And they knew that if other people knew
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their secrets, they would be considered insane.
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Stafford is 38. She lives in Pleasant Hill, where she manages to hold down
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a part time job while she works on becoming an artist. Stafford wears her
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long brownish hair pulled back from her face. Her skin is pale and smooth,
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making her look much younger.
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"I used to think I must be a monster to have these thoughts. I didn't keep
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it a secret -- I told people I had bad thoughts. But I never told them
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everything. I was afraid they'd think, `What kind of terrible person are
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you?'" Stafford says. She leans forward on the table, clasping her long, thin
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hands. "I didn't fear that I was going to harm anyone, but I feared that harm
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would come to them. I could see horrible deaths...burning, suffering,
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bleeding."
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Stafford describes herself as a person who "just didn't function."
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Some people are able to hide their obsessions and compulsions, and control
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them enough to work, go to school and give the give the appearance of being
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normal. Sometimes, they cross over the line and their obsessions and
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compulsions take complete control.
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"These people who become so absorbed they don't eat. They just can't
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function at all," Jones says. "In those extreme cases, we've actually had to
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go in and cut part of the brain."
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Most people with OCD are able to hide their obsessions and compulsions.
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Some can even control them for short periods of time when other people are
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around. Many people with milder cases can't function almost normally, Jones
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said.
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BRAIN MALFUNCTION
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-----------------
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Doctors and researchers don't know what causes OCD, but they have theories.
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It tends to run in families, but a clear link hasn't be established.
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Biologically, researchers have found that in people with OCD there is a faulty
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connection between the brains frontal lobe -- where incoming information is
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processed -- and the basal ganglia, the brains nerve center.
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OCD sufferers also have decreased levels of serotonin in their brains.
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Serotonin is sort of a mental lubricant that carries the brains orders
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throughout the nervous system.
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Whether the illness is caused by the physical and chemical abnormalities, or
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the illness creates the abnormalities, scientists can't say.
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Jones and Koran say they believe it is probably biological and
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psychological combination. Jones says he believes at least some of the
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obsessive-comulsive behavior is used as a safeguard against depression.
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"If you can stay occupied with enough obsessions or compulsions, if you can
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keep your mind working on something that doesn't matter, over and over again,
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then you don't have time to think about depression," Jones says.
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Stafford doesn't know what causes her OCD. Part of it, she says, is
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probably biological. But a certain amount is her own mental defenses kicking
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in.
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"I had a tremendous pain in my childhood. Sexual abuse terror. No amount
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of therapy has helped. I have felt so much pain physically that I know it's
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better to feel the pain that my thoughts causes than the real pain I have.
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Both are terrible, but it's a lesser pain," Stafford says.
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DRUG TREATMENT
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--------------
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The disorder is treated by two often overlapping methods. Behavioral
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treatment and psychotherapy works for some. In behavioral treatment, people
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who are afraid of getting their hands dirty are forced to stick their hands in
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dirt and are then prevented from washing.
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Drug treatment -- combined with psychotherapy -- yields the best results.
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Anafranil is the commonly prescribed drug, but Prozac, which entered the
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market in December 1987, is being hailed as a wonder drug. It has become the
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nations most prescribed anti-depressant.
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"My life was a nightmare that nobody understood," Stafford says. "Every day
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I'd feel like I couldn't go on. I wanted to die. But I'd hold on to the idea
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that maybe today they'd find out what was wrong with me. That helped keep me
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going.
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"When I went on Prozac it was almost immediate relief. Id' say my thoughts,
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the bad thoughts, were reduced by 50 percent. Now I have two or three a day,
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But I can feel them coming on and fight them. The nightmares stopped right
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away.
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"I've never known what it feels like to live this way, to wake up in the
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morning and look forward to the day. To have pleasure. To have fun. I've
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never known what it was to be normal....until now."
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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KEEP COMPULSIONS AND OBSESSIONS IN CHECK
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----------------------------------------
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When does a habit become a compulsion, a preoccupation an obsession?
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This checklist may be helpful in answering those questions.
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How much time do you spend in obsessive thoughts or compulsive rituals?
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a) None
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b) Occasionally, less than one hour a day
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c) Frequently, one to three hours a day
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d) Very frequently, three to eight hours a day
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e) Almost constantly, almost all waking hours
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How do you rate the interference in your life because of these obsessive
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thoughts or compulsive rituals?
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a) Non-existent
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b) Slight
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c) Mild to moderate
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d) Moderate, definite interferences with work or social performances, but
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still manageable.
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e) Extreme, incapacitating ever aspect of life
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How much distress do you have because of the thoughts and rituals?
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a) None
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b) Mild, infrequent, and not too disturbing
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c) Moderate, definite distress
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d) Severe
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e) Extreme, almost constant distress
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How often do you resist the thoughts and rituals?
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a) Always make effort to resist, or thoughts are so minimal no resistance
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is needed
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b) Try to resist most of the time
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c) Make some effort to resist
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d) Yield completely to thoughts or rituals
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If you answered "d" or "e" to any of the questions, it is worth
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consulting a psychologist or psychiatrist for diagnosis and treatment.
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(Excerpted from "The Boy who Couldn't Stop Washing" by Dr. Judith Rapoport.)
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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OBSESSIONS AND COMPULSIONS
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--------------------------
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People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder may have one, or some of the
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following obsessions and compulsions:
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Aggressive Obsessions
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=====================
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Fear of harming others
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Fear of harming self
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Violent or horrific images
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Fear of blurting our obscenities or insults
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Fear of doing something embarrassing
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Fear of acting on criminal impulses
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Fear of being help responsible for something going wrong
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Fear that something terrible might happen
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Contamination Obsession
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=======================
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Concern or disgust with body waste or secretions
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Concern with dirt or germs
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Excessive concern about chemical or environmental contamination
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Sexual Obsessions
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=================
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Forbidden or perverse thoughts or images
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Miscellaneous Obsessions
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========================
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Obsession with the need for symmetry, exactness or order
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Fear of not saying things exactly right
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Mental images that invade the thoughts
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Nonsense sounds, words or music in one's mind
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Lucky and unlucky numbers
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Colors with special significance
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Preoccupation with a part of the body
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Compulsions
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===========
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Having to count over and over to a certain number
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Checking doors, locks, brakes, lights
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Repeating rituals, like going in and out of doors, sitting down
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and standing up
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Ordering and arranging, such as repeatedly packing and unpacking
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a suitcase, rearranging drawers
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Hoarding and collecting
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Need to tell, ask or confess
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Need to touch, measure
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(Excerpted from "The Boy who Couldn't Stop Washing" by Dr. Judith Rapoport.)
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ WHERE TO GET HELP ³
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³ ----------------- ³
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³ ³
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³ If you or someone you know suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive ³
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³ Disorder, here are some organizations that can help. ³
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³ ³
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³ ³
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³ OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER CLINIC, STANDFORD UNIVERSITY; ³
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³ 723-8212. Offers treatment and psychiatry to people with OCD. ³
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³ Also can put you in touch with area support groups. ³
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³ ³
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³ ³
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³ THE OCD FOUNDATION, P.O. BOX 9573, NEW HAVEN, CT 06535; ³
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³ 1-203-772-0565. Publishes a newsletter and also acts as a ³
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³ clearing house for OCD research and support groups. To join, ³
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³ write the group. Memberships are 25$ for a regular member, 50$ ³
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³ for contributing member, more than 100$ for benefactor. Also ³
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³ puts you in touch with other OCD people in your area. Mail ³
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³ requests to "OCD Friend," in care of the foundation. ³
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³ ³
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
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Typed by: Doctor Murdock
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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