Author Archives: Nicholas Paul Brooks

My OCD Life.

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What is it like to just uncontrollably have urges, urges that are unrelenting and never ending? That is what Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is like. OCD is able to be identified as obsessive thoughts that create anxiety and compulsions such as number counting, the famous hand washing, and organizing things whichas rituals to help relieve the anxiety. There are two different types of OCD which are primarily obsessive and and normal OCD. Normal OCD is described like it was previously while primarily-O is mostly pure obsessive thoughts creating anxiety about doing something very unlike the person, even violent. OCD is also associated a lot with Tourette’s Syndrome, ADD, as well as Autism. Usually if you have one of these disorders, you will have one of the others. This is a disorder that I personally have myself and deal with as well as many other people.

A look into my life with OCD is interesting. Due to this class and researching more, i realized that i primarily have a case of Prime-O case of OCD. Before in my life i went through therapy in order to try to train myself not to let my obsessive thoughts have such a great effect on me. For me, I have a combination of Tourettes and OCD. These two feed off of each other. The anxiety that my OCD creates sets of my Tourettes and causes my tics to come out more. My Tourettes would not be as bad due to when concentrated, the tics subside. However, with the recurring thoughts also becoming an obsession and creating anxiety for me, it is hard to focus. I still do have compulsions but not many. My biggest compulsion is checking  doors to make sure they are locked. I also organize objects in certain patterns that I see fit. I also tend to place certain objects in certain places and constantly check to make sure they are in their right place. It is rough but the only way to stop this is trying to preoccupy yourself in some way.

Major Depressive Disorder- A History and Personal Reflection

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Everyone has those thoughts. Doom and gloom, and an overall lack or interest in doing anything. No one is alone in these feelings. However, there are some extreme case of these feelings known as Major Depressive Disorder. It can be a crippling disorder in which the person loses interest of former favorite activities, a loss of interest in family and friends, as well as a feeling of helplessness. The feeling of helplessness is the huge part in this disorder that makes it clear as to what disorder it is. However, the big point that sets regular depression apart from Major Depressive disorder is that the state of depression lasts for a long time, roughly two weeks or more. Depression is often compared to the common cold due to the fact that it is so common among people around the world. This is true shown that one of the most common drugs prescribed is Zoloft or its generic name Sertraline.

Major Depressive Disorder is something that I myself have to deal with on a daily basis. I was officially diagnosed with the disorder about a year ago and I myself am prescribed by my doctor Sertraline. This is something that runs in my family as my father as well as various other relatives have been diagnosed with MDD. As a person living with this disorder, it feels like a struggle when hit by the effects of the disorder. The biggest problem for me is the fact that I don’t always take my medicine all the time like I should due to the fact that one of the medicine’s side effects is drowsiness. I experience all of the symptoms that come with it, including thoughts of self-harm. When completely struck with the effects, I do not do things that I thought was fun or interesting like weight lifting and at times prefer to be along around no one and stay locked in my room by myself. It is a difficult thing and is a struggle to stay out of the ruts that MDD puts me in.