During the countdown do you actually want to think of those horrible threatening OCD thoughts or just saying what you said?
I usually do it with the thoughts themselves, it wonāt make them leave but it shows thereās no threat. I do warn though, he could get really uncomfortable. If you think he might then you could just use the exercise for his sense of anxiety itself until you see a therapist. Tell the feeling of anxiety to get bad instead of the thoughts.
It is important the therapist gets to know him and establishes a relationship of trust so that he can let go and do the exposure exercises.
Thank you sir. I appreciate this info.
Have a nice day.
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No problem man, anytime. Youāre a good dad to be helping him out with this stuff. Some parents just brush it off and they donāt know how much trouble their child is in.
I do want to make it clear though that I have a lot of mental health field experience but Iām not a psychologist myself, so do be sure to consult with someone if these suggestions seem to be making things worse. In-person therapy sessions change really rapidly depending on the patientās level of discomfort and therapists might abandon an exercise if itās doing more harm than good. These are just some things that have helped me get through hard times.
Do you Happen to have lack of smell?
Anosmia? No, my sense of smell is fine. Question for you though, did your son develop this gradually or did it have a sudden onset? Also, was he ever sick with a bad infection? Strep or anything?
We believe it was at birth. He has barely developed olfactory sulci. I looked into this deeply. I had the radiologist go back in his images of mri and measure. Sulci were at a size that would indicate thatās how he was born. One was 3mm other 7mm. From my research,Drās again so limited, if measurement was below a certain size which they are it is congenital. Or else I would be more concerned.
We did not realized until he was 13 because he was used to not smelling.
It appears he does not have kallmann. He is fully in puberty and am monitoring in case itās incomplete puberty. He is tall for his age and has hair in the appropriate places. And penis size good. He ejaculates as well. From what he tells me.
Am sure your interested heres his report.
He does seem he can taste. If you know of anything I should monitor please do tell me.
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Thanks for the info. I have some abnormalities in my nasal cavity but no brain abnormalities they could detect. Iām sorry your son has this issue.
The reason I asked about the infections is because they can cause rapid-onset OCD (PANDAS) which then lasts the rest of the personās life if not treated with antibiotics early, sounds like itās not the case here though.
OK. The olfactory bulbs are not really part of the brain. His brain should be fine.
Heās very healthy otherwise. Athletic. Does need help academically. Average academic or slightly below average.
Didnāt mean to imply that he had brain abnormalities, just when you mentioned the sulcus I thought thatās what you meant.
I hope he turns up the heat on his academics. School is so boring these days I donāt blame kids for not being engaged. I was lucky I had really interesting teachers.
yo thanks a lot for taking your time to reply. so tomorrow i have an appointment with my therapist. lets see what she tells me about how to deal with this. im actually just accepting it and just go about my day like you said and its working. i sometimes forget and sometimes i must admit, i do engage them but i donāt want to put too much pressure on myself. maybe today i did more hand washing but tomorrow ill do less and next day less, etc not putting too much pressure on me or worrying.
what bothers me is that the therapist only sees me once every two weeks and the psychiatrist appointment is due in one month! im considering going to a psychological hospital. they offer group therapy and individual therapy 3 times per week.
@charlie12 i really liked what you have in your fridge! good stuff. but like jpt said. i do know whats going on. i do know im frequently washing my hands. i just canāt stop it. but heres the thing. what if i stop washing my hands? how exactly do i know i will get sick or dirty? do i know the future? does everyone wash their hands like i do? if i go out and see normal people eating, they eat sugary stuff while touching their phones and continue with their life. meanwhile, i canāt touch anything while eating or ill get worried because ants will come.
the good thing about tomorrows appointment is that im taking my grandma (the one who actually rise me) to talk with the therapist. the therapist told me to bring her because shes a stressor. she just think this kind of stuff is for kids and blah blah blah you get it so i need this to be clear.
all in all, i know low t doesnāt help, but i know fixing this mental issue raise my t.
sorry for my english
waitā¦ wtf! i have this thoughts too about, what if im gay? why do i have thoughts about men sometimes. i know im not and i truly love women, but i sometimes have this thoughts too. i didnt know this was ocd also. thanks for clarifying. its just that i also havent had sex or libido in a long time.
Hereās a good way to determine if you are gay. Do you want to go to the movies and a romantic dinner with a guy?
If not, itās just a what if.
i do want ERP (i read a lot of this.) CBT seems to work but appointments once every two weeks? this sounds like trt once biweekly too x.x. i literally have been doing this all by myself just accepting watching videos etc. i canāt even do stuff i like because i wake up and have to deal with this ocd until i go to bed. i cant read a book or anything because this shit is horrible and takes time. also jpt do you recommend any good meditation or be in the now books? when i get the time and this ocd lessens ill start reading. 1
nop! i canāt even imagine it. but for some reason freaking what if" comes to my mind all the time.
since my libido is off i canāt even imagine having sex with a girl 
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An straight and occasionally think of how a bj from a guy would feel. Or worse. Itās normal. I do not act on this. I know itās an intrusive thought.
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tbh, before i knew i had low t. i was kinda homo phobic. i couldnt be with someone who is gay.
Accepting it is definitely one way to handle it, it gets you through the day but Iāve been told that itās just a band-aid. The real therapy comes when you face the fear head on and confront the compulsions.
This is another part of OCD, the āwhat ifās,ā everyone has them but theyāre exaggerated in OCD. A BIG part of recovering from OCD is coming to terms with uncertainty. Right now youāre addicted to trying to provide yourself certainty and the end result is trying to compulsively control the things that give you the most anxiety.
Sounds like a good therapist. Iām glad theyāre doing this for you.
Actually an ERP practitioner would probably have you do exactly this. Theyād say āok, so your intrusive thoughts center on thinking āwhat if Iām gay.āā Theyād then walk you through a detailed, imaginary scenario where you have sex with a gay man, every gritty detail. Theyād do this with you over and over until your anxiety level dropped around this thought.
My bad, meant to quote Charlie but reply to @Riaero
I donāt think thats a good gauge at all. Id go to the dinner and a movie with a buddy. Ive been to āromanticā dinners with a friend to try out a nice restaurant. Now if you said you have to give him a handy during the flick or makeout after dinner then thats a different story and my yuck flag goes up.