Is OCD just a #first world problem?

[Steve4AM 14]

   if you don't know this phrase, see the video that weird al just released.  in the first world, we have it very good with food, shelter and communication.  in the third world, people starve, may be in danger of actually being killed, and probably don't have a cellphone and computer.

   my point is:  would i wash my hands all the time if there was limited or unsanitary water supplies?  would i worry about my food being clean if i was on the edge of starvation?  i would not obsess over the internet if i had no computer or phone line in my village.

   are there people with OCD everywhere in the world?  what do they do?  are we just spoiled, entitled jerks living in wealthy countries, complaining about nothing?

   i sometimes feel guilty wasting cleaning supplies for everything but i just can't stop.  it's similar with my other obsessions.  i am in control, but they punish me if i break the rules of contamination ocd

[Steve4AM 14]

   I really do wonder about this.  What if I lived in a place where hand sanitizer was not available at every store?  What if there wasn't enough water to wash my hands, or it was dirty water?  What would life be like then, would I have to cure myself out of necessity, or just be very unhappy

[cr@zyd0t 6]

I have never once considered that thought.  I can't imagine we are the only ones....

Perhaps the obsessions of third world countries are just different than ours. 

If they don't exist, then we need to man up!  (I don't really mean that...it is so much easier said than done)

[lonesailor14 653]

I've wondered this too in regard to anxiety. I have always been grateful for where I live and try not to take it for granted. I think wondering this makes you feel worse and guilty because so many people are doing it tough and going without. But I have wondered. My Dad grew up in Germany during WW2, he saw some horrible things & went hungry often. He never had panic attacks or anxiety. Then I think of people living in garbage dumps in India or refugees in Rwanda, starving Africans. Are they on Prozac? I know in my own case my anxiety is not caused by my living situation or relationships. It most definately is something chemical or biological inside myself. I know my Great Grandfather had it from reading his army records of discharge for "nervousness & tachycardia". My Aunt and Cousin have it on my Mum's side and brother on dad's side. I also know today when I took an ssri for the first time it stopped. In my case it is definately something in my wiring.

[jonathan123 2368]

Anxiety is not hereditary. But being brought up in a family where there is nervousness and anxiety  is a sure way to get it adult life. My father was a galloping neurotic but was 92 when he died, then of pneumonia! My mother was also half way there. What a hope for a young lad. Strangely, throughout my army service I did not have a touch of it, and it was not until mid life that it hit me with a real bang. I had to stop work for some time as the work involved was dangerous if done by someone with 'nerves'. 11.000 volts is no respecter of persons, nerves or not. The last war left a lot of, what I call, the walking wounded. Many died but millions were left with a nervous condition that stayed for the rest of their lives. Modern living is not conducive to mental well being.' Rush here and there' ' It all has to be done yesterday' is not helpful. I wonder more aren't ill. In a way we sufferers are fortunate because we realise we have a problem and, if we are sensible, will avoid situations which make us ill. But the vast majority are like a lot of lemmings, rushing to get over the cliff. "Those at the back cried 'forward', and those at the front cried 'back'." Is it any wonder we finish up in a state?     Rant over.   Jon. 

[lonesailor14 653]

I will have to disagree with you John. Kind of. Modern rushing does not cause my anxiety. It might for some but for me no. In fact the other day I was worrying about my job and finances and was really happy about it, I noticed I was actually worrying about a "real" normal problem for once instead of the make belive my brain comes up with. I'm actually worse when I'm not busy. Research says in depression and anxiety your hippocampus actually shrinks. You become unable to pull yourself out of the stress hole because your brain is physically weakened. That would explain why as much as I try and concentrate, I know what my mind says is wrong but for the life of me I cannot get it to see reason. Neuroplasticity says if we practice certain exercises the brain can be repaired or re-routed. So if you can get those precious moments of clarity, use them to practice cbt! Cbt will strengthen the pathways and give the hippocampus a work out, growing it bigger like a muscle. My problem is I never get the chance, my head is never clear enough and my brain is too tired. Maybe this is why meds have worked for me so far.

[Steve4AM 14]

   I will have to agree with Jon, modern life is insanity.   I really don't know how regular people are able to stand it.

   If this hippocampus stuff is actually true, that would explain a lot.   For twenty years I've tried to get out of depression and haven't been able to be rid of it yet.  Meds help for a while, but eventually I get tired of the side effects.  I'm trying to get off benzos but it's not easy - nobody should be prescribed this stuff.

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Steve. If modern living does not cause anxiety then why is it on the increase and why do they now refer to it, in the Western world, as an epidemic. Are we designed to live this way? Are we designed to walk about with a phone attached to our ears that emits radiation? Can our brains accommodate the terrible news items that appear daily? Were we meant to live at this terrible pace where speed has become an obsession? No, but we switch off which is not psychologically healthy. We can watch the most appalling atrocities on TV without hardly feeling anything. (Not the nervously ill, they feel it only too well!, which adds to their anxiety). Has anyone heard of Entropy? It is the running down of society; the gradual decline in standards both ethical and moral. If you know anything of history you will know this has happened many times to Empires and Countries that have gone too far too fast. Were our brains designed to take in the forceful modern media with its advertising and constant barrage of  commercialism? I remember when subliminal advertising was banned. That was when for a minute fraction of a second the advert flashed on the screen. Too quick for the mind to recognise but not so slow that it went into the unconscious. The next time you thought of 'soap' your unconscious recognised it. Brain washing? Yes; but it goes on today in less subtle forms.  And we wonder why anxiety is on the increase! Of course, there is nothing we can do about it so we have to look to ourselves. To try and form a world of peace within ourselves that can't be touched by the outside insanity. Steve, you are right to use that word because it really sums it up.     Jon.

[Bumblegirl 1]

Hi,

 

I have intrusive thoughts and I think I would probably have these no matter how I lived. 
I agree though that with other aspects of anxiety and ocd that perhaps if we didn't certain things it wouldn't be as bad but I do still think it would exist xx

[Steve4AM 14]

   actually I totally agree that modern living causes anxiety!  or it is one of the major causes.  the problem is what can we do about it?  i'm too much of a freak right now to really hold a job, and finding a girlfriend is a challenge.  somehow, i need to make some money, or im considered a worthless human being by my father, and most women i meet.  eventually, my parents won't be able to pay for my survival - then what?