You may have seen it pass by last spring, the program "Living with Compulsion. An interesting title already if you ask me with some interesting presuppositions. Do you get them out? Now, by the way, there is another new program.
OCD Hospital or OCD Ward
Also in this program, you see people who have OCD and live with it. It's terrible when you have it, but where does it actually come from?
Did you know that many children have some kind of OCD? Only then we don't call it that. Then you say they are just playing around. Did you ever go to school and then tell yourself that you were only allowed on the white tiles? Or only on the stripes?
A lot of kids do that, and maybe you did as a game from time to time. That's pretty harmless, of course, and the singing group Kinderen voor Kinderen even made a song about it. You can see that below.
Do you know.
Maybe you recognize it. After all, I myself used to have it. Walking to school, I went from pole to pole and tile to tile. If I didn't, I told myself, something would happen....
That could be anything, of course. At one point I had it in my head that if I kept riding my bike with my eyes closed for 10 seconds, the latest Suske and Wiske book would be at the 4 and 6 (our neighborhood supermarket).
Cycling for 10 seconds with your eyes closed is not necessarily very smart I found out because while I was counting it was suddenly.... BAM
Full on a parked car with my bike half in the grill of that car. I opened my eyes and as I lay on the hood of that car I looked right into the eyes of an elderly lady. This lady was standing a little further away looking behind her window and shaking her head....
I think the shame I felt spreading was palpable throughout Wormerveer, and as I quickly drove away to the neighborhood grocery store, I also found out there that the whole comic book wasn't there yet. I was so angry that the compulsion stopped there. It was gone and I never had it like that again.
Another way of therapy
Now of course you shouldn't put all those people who have compulsions on a bicycle with their eyes closed. Besides not being safe, what I experienced is very personal. The sense of shame I had was the reason for me to be able to let go of that compulsion.
That doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, of course, but yes. Then you watch the programs "Living with Compulsion" or "OCD Hospital on TLC" and you see that the same therapy is used for everyone.
And if that helps. However, they spend months taking a few steps forward, but then when they come home and have a relapse, they are back to square one.
I also find the names of the programs quite shocking. It is suggested that you are lifelong (meaning you can never get rid of it) or that you belong in an institution (like the Ward).
2% of people experience this, and hypnotherapy can be helpful for some. In cases of severe compulsions, the process takes some time—it won’t be resolved in a single session—but it has proven to yield good results.
What you then do is you follow the feeling of compulsion back to the first time with a regression. There you change the perception of the situation so you no longer have that feeling.
Then you'll work on learning other ways to deal with expectations. People with compulsions expect something to happen, and let's face it, something always happens.
However, they immediately relate that to themselves. So if they haven't done that compulsion treatment and something happens, it's because of them, they think. You have to work with that too then as a therapist.
What you see now is that people are just expected to stop doing what they are doing now. But then again, you try to stop doing something you are supposed to do unconsciously. It's almost impossible and when it goes it feels very bad.
The unconscious automatic program
Therefore, that underlying unconscious automatic program must be changed. When you are only consciously talking and trying to change things at the behavioral level, it becomes very difficult.
Try to unlearn yourself how to ride a bike (if you can ride a bike) or talk now. That's almost impossible to do. Of course, this is not quite the same thing, but it illustrates how difficult it is for someone to just stop doing something.
With hypnosis, it can all be a lot easier. I myself have not been able to watch all of the programs because I simply cannot stand it. I find it terrible to see those people suffering and also the way they are treated I find from the year 0.
Fortunately there is treatment and attention to it, yes, but it 's time a better way of therapy was highlighted.
This article is not medical advice, and hypnosis is not a substitute for treatment by a doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. If you are experiencing mental health issues, first discuss with your primary care physician or mental health professional what is right for you; if you are having suicidal thoughts, call 113 (0800-0113) or visit 113.nl.
Marli
on23 Mar 2015