Posted by mattdds on June 7, 2003, at 13:57:47
In reply to Re: Another CBT question. Very specific., posted by Dinah on June 7, 2003, at 11:51:43
Hi again Dinah,
Sounds more like an obsession than a fear, am I correct? This all sounds like a classical, but partially controlled, form of OCD. I'm just using the term "OCD" here for heuristic purposes here, because CBT treatment differs for OCD. Do you have OCD as a diagnosis? Just curious.
I know there are CBT treatments that are very effective for OCD, but I'm afraid I don't know much about them. I think they've shown in a number of studies that CBT was just as effective as high-dose SSRI's for OCD, with better long-term recovery.
But I digress.
It appears you have done some CBT of your own. It's called "response prevention". In other words, you didn't continuously mop the floors, or wash your son's feet, every time you had an intrusive thought about vomit. So it appears you are halfway there. You have straightened out your behaviors, but not the cognitions. You said you enjoyed your vacation, at least on some level. But on another, you did not. You even made sand castles in that quagmire of vomit ;). In all seriousness, you are quite the stoic for behaving normally despite all those (gross) intrusions of thought. You have done an excellent job here.
Your question was: can CBT do more? I think it could. But first off, you must do a cost-benefit analysis. How much is it worth it to you to straighten out this little quirk? Is it significantly affecting your quality of life? Do you have obsessive intrusion about other things, or just vomit?
I ask this because I can relate. I have a fear of peeing in public. In the men's bathroom, we have urinals, and if there is someone next to me, I literally CANNOT urinate. I don't feel the need to go through all the behavior therapy for this (and such therapy does exist) because I can just go in the stall and pee freely! So there is no treatment indicated. I just accept that as one of my many quirks. I used to be very self-conscious about this. But now I am not. Now, I actually even tell my guy friends that "I have stage fright", and go in the stall. They just laugh. If they think I'm weird or whatever, I think that's their problem, not mine.
I don't know if this is relevant, but hopefully it's a bit humorous ;)
Is your obsession with vomit significantly affecting your life? I love going to the beach, and can empathize with you. It would be a bummer to be at the beach on an otherwise nice vacation, and to be plagued with intrusions about regurgitated Corona beers and fish tacos.
So first, tell me how much it bothers you, and I'll try to come up with some ideas (first I have to read up on OCD, don't know as much about CBT treatment for OCD as I do about depression and anxiety, sorry :))
Regards,
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:230572
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030529/msgs/232180.html