dancesintherain Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 My psychiatrist and therapist currently have a dispute about whether or not I have OCD. Actually, less of a dispute...more just a disagreement. Neither is trying to fight for it or not. I have some mild compulsion-type activities (counting the number of unique letters in a name, which I like to have ten, etc.). But nothing really gets in the way of life. My pdoc thinks that my intrusive and obsessive thoughts stem from OCD. However, my therapist says that they are trauma symptoms, as they generally relate to something trauma-related (though not always). Her approach to OCD is that it usually involves doing XYZ thing to keep ABC from happening. She acknowledged that pure-obsessional OCD exists, but she sees that as thinking of all the really bad things that could happen. I'm not sure if that makes any sense. I'm trying to get a sense of what flavors of OCD could look like if you also have PTSD or how you tease out intrusive thoughts that are PTSD versus intrusive thoughts that are OCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Would it change your treatment tho? I other words, you say it's not too disruptive, so does it necessarily need to be labeled if it's not causing significant distress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 Well if it’s going to impact what treatment is used, it matters. I also don’t really want unnecessary and inaccurate diagnoses...I already have the BP, PTSD, and GAD diagnoses. I don’t really need more unless it’s truly accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 See I've always felt that I don't need to carry around every single dx idea with me...obviously it's necessary sometimes I'm not saying diagnosis is useless but I feel that if one gets all those diagnoses and labels it restricts the way doctors will treat your symptoms...again obviously sometimes necessary...but it can be tough when out of the box thinking is required... Which is why many adopt the "treat the symptom not the diagnosis" philosophy. I didn't mean your symptom didn't matter I was more wondering whether you feel like it needs serious attention or whether you would want to try and deal with it non pharmologically as to not disturb your current cocktail 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniper29 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 OCD has been thrown around by my doctors but not actually diagnosed. For me, my OCD-ish symptoms have themes that don't have anything to do with my past trauma. The main themes are driving (checking for nails in tires, checking whether I've hit a pedestrian or whether I've accidentally parked in a handicapped space etc) and contamination (mostly bug poison ... I have rules in my mind about how it spreads and what can be touched or not touched or has to be washed). This probably isn't helpful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 That is good to know juniper...that's kind of what I think of when I think of OCD. Iceberg, I honestly don't want the diagnosis. I think I have more than enough. And I agree with my psychologist that it can be subsumed in the PTSD. I feel like my psychiatrist is just checking more boxes. But I appreciate the medication approach that she's taken thus far (except when she tried to get me on provigil despite going manic two times in the past two years). So it's not like I'd want to leave her. I just think she may see zebras when they're really horses. that said, I see it as an interesting psychological puzzle, so that's why I figured I'd explore it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Don't blame you for not wanting another diagnosis, especially on something that isn't totally conclusive. Also, I feel like psychiatrists lean towards a diagnosis that responds to medicine over one that is more therapy based...ex OCD has many medicinal treatments while PTSD does not have as many options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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