OCD in the house
Posted 11-28-2008 at 12:56 AM by abaya
I haven't been able to get on TFP at all since Tuesday because one of my best friends from home arrived for a weeklong visit that morning. She was the maid of honor in our wedding, my oldest friend, the one I have known since I was 6 years old. She's here until Monday, so I most likely won't be able to check in again till then.
The visit has been a bit more difficult than I anticipated--I was aware that she has struggled with OCD for the last 10 years, including during a summerlong backpacking trip that we took in 2002 around Europe (and I never noticed anything about it, at that point)... but it seems to have gotten worse in recent years. We got stuck in a souvenir shop for an extra 30 minutes yesterday because she had an OCD episode... it's not severe, but you definitely can tell what is going on. And she's very aware of it, and talks to me about it throughout and after the event, but it was disturbing to see someone that I know so well, become someone that I didn't really recognize. I felt powerless to help her to get out of it--later we talked about what I could do to help, and that was what I needed to hear-- but in the moment, I had no idea what to do. She just kept going back, over and over again, to check if she had damaged a hat in the store. Simple task, but disturbing in its repetition and obsession.
I had never seen her display the OCD characteristics so clearly before... obviously it's been stressful for her to be in a new country (she never travels alone, so this is a huge deal for her to come all the way here--I'm really proud of her for that), so I understand that it's manifesting itself more strongly than usual here. She's on medication and goes to therapy, but it just seems to have gotten worse since we traveled in Europe in 2002. I don't really know what to say.
It makes me feel so sad for her... she feels trapped by it, since she's 30 years old and still lives with her parents, because she's so scared to live on her own and not have anyone to balance out her episodes. She even suggested living with me and ktsp when we get to Seattle, and my immediate reaction was NO (in my head), because I can't even imagine... I had never felt so protective of ktsp's and my relationship before. At the same time, I feel awful for her situation.
Does anyone here have experience with this illness?
The visit has been a bit more difficult than I anticipated--I was aware that she has struggled with OCD for the last 10 years, including during a summerlong backpacking trip that we took in 2002 around Europe (and I never noticed anything about it, at that point)... but it seems to have gotten worse in recent years. We got stuck in a souvenir shop for an extra 30 minutes yesterday because she had an OCD episode... it's not severe, but you definitely can tell what is going on. And she's very aware of it, and talks to me about it throughout and after the event, but it was disturbing to see someone that I know so well, become someone that I didn't really recognize. I felt powerless to help her to get out of it--later we talked about what I could do to help, and that was what I needed to hear-- but in the moment, I had no idea what to do. She just kept going back, over and over again, to check if she had damaged a hat in the store. Simple task, but disturbing in its repetition and obsession.
I had never seen her display the OCD characteristics so clearly before... obviously it's been stressful for her to be in a new country (she never travels alone, so this is a huge deal for her to come all the way here--I'm really proud of her for that), so I understand that it's manifesting itself more strongly than usual here. She's on medication and goes to therapy, but it just seems to have gotten worse since we traveled in Europe in 2002. I don't really know what to say.
It makes me feel so sad for her... she feels trapped by it, since she's 30 years old and still lives with her parents, because she's so scared to live on her own and not have anyone to balance out her episodes. She even suggested living with me and ktsp when we get to Seattle, and my immediate reaction was NO (in my head), because I can't even imagine... I had never felt so protective of ktsp's and my relationship before. At the same time, I feel awful for her situation.
Does anyone here have experience with this illness?
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