OCD AND THE PERMISSION TO LIVE

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
- William Shakespeare (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 32 of "Julius Cesear")

Okay, perhaps Shakespeares line doesnt quite apply. After all, people surviving a life with OCD are often some of the bravest you could ever meet. But The Bard has an important message for those of us with OCD. The sometimes overwhelming fear that OCD fosters in us causes us to pull back from life and aliveness. While most of us would say that our obsessions revolve around illness, death, or some calamity, in some ways it would seem the real fear or at least what our fear causes us to hold back from is LIVING!

A little background is in order. Since the mid-1990s I have continued an ongoing, (and obsessively:-) complete review of ... READ MORE

I chose "fearless" this year because I want to "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway", as Susan Jeffers wrote.

This is a meditation by Jeanine Sande (with music by me!) to help you feel present in your body and in touch with your intuition. All of this helps with anxiety that comes with OCD.

Visit Jeanine's blog for more information on why she created this meditation.

I just finished one of last chapters in my new book "Its a Matter of Trust ~Finding Peace of Mind from OCD". It will be out 2012. The Chapter I wrote is titled Love heals. In my experience, with almost 30 years of being challenged with OCD, I am absolutely convinced that love is medicine. Not only love from another person but love in all forms. Awful anxiety that come with OCD just vanishes in the presents of real true love and compassion. See and hear what Dr Deepak Chopra has to say about this: Source: Youtube

This is an excellent clip about how to handle worry from Echart Tolle. I recommend it./ Source: You-Tube

Time to Take a Chance?
BLOG by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer Source: Healyourlife.com

"One of the most common questions people ask me is some variation on: How can I overcome fear and take a chance? A caller to my radio show, for example, couldnt decide whether to take a job in a new city. It was a good job, but it would require him to leave his life-long home. We all fear change and the risks it carries, but I have to say that everything significant Ive ever experienced has involved change. Our soul wants to expand and grow. When we stay with the familiar, just because it is familiar, we are responding to a fear of failure that doesnt support our growth.

I suggest you consider a radical idea. What if there is no such thing as failure? Failing is a judgment that we humans place on a given action. ... READ MORE

Here's a great Radio interview (no visual only audio) with Dr. Jeff Szymanski, Executive Director of the International OCD Foundation explaining Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and 10-year-old Mystery Almond, who was diagnosed with OCD four years ago, shares her experience with us.

Why has CBT/ERP worked for me and what is F. E.A.R. really? 

I believe it shifted and literally changed my brain structure and chemistry for the better by changing my distorted belief system caused by the medical condition of OCD. Sounds smart doesnt it? But, the proof I found was in my willingness to try it and to witness firsthand that it worked for me. Clearly, if it worked for me, it can and does work for others! In fact, its been the strongest way Ive found to break my OCD patterns.

Heres the example I recently went though while writing this book.

My triggers were pulled again from the stress, loss and grief of my mothers passing. That was the obvious analysis my therapists came to, along with my own thoughts of the passing of my last parent.

I never imagined the symptoms would come back this strong and so unrelenting, but they did. ... READ MORE

Excerpt from James Callner's upcoming book on OCD"It's a Matter of Trust ~ A Memoir of Hope" 

I was now working part time at the college teaching night courses. The OCD was manageable but I was only two years out of the hospital and it was a daily struggle to be on my own and continue my re-entry into life and the living.
The college where I work is nestled in the hills of Saratoga, California; a small, charming city and a beautiful campus. To get there I would drive an easy three miles down an expressway called Highway 9.
Highway 9 was one of the more beautiful drives in my area. A two-lane expressway cut through rolling hills with lush trees and breathtaking mountain views with a speed limit of approximately 45-50 m.p.h. depending on the area of the road. I had driven this lovely stretch hundreds of times before the onset of the OCD. ... READ MORE

  An Excerpt from James Callner's upcoming book  "It's a Matter of Trust ~ A Memoir of Hope" 

In the 1990s up to day I continued my pursuit of recovery though as many avenues as I could including 12 steps programs, Medication trials, Spirituality, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Response Prevention Therapy. All of these modalities I work with to this day.

I must tell you that the one modality that has calmed the high seas of anxiety the best has been something most people dont talk about much but it sure has worked for me.

Creativity and Service.

This creative aspect and connecting with others challenged with OCD has always fascinated me. I have never met anyone with OCD that has not been articulate, intelligent, funny and creative. In my thinking it seems that some part of their brain has been compromised by the neurobiological ... READ MORE