The Ramblings of a "Mad Man"

There was recently a question posed on the OCD forum that I thought was worth putting on my blog. The question is, “Does Pure O really exist”.

I wrote this in response and thought maybe others would get some value out of it:

“I have what I call “Pure O” which in my case is obsessions with no compulsions mental or otherwise. If trying to get rid of the obsession in your mind is a compulsion, then I guess there is no such thing as Pure O. I don’t really agree though. I think anyone who had intrusive negative thoughts would want to get rid of them and most would look internally because that is rationally where the issue is. I want to be careful here though, because anxiety disorders all meld together when you get down to the basics. All anxiety disorders are caused by an underlying fear or group of fears. These can manifest themselves in an infinite number of ways. So, with that being said, trying to find a label for your anxiety disorder may be a lost quest. Most times a doctor will say something like; you have panic disorder, depression and possibly obsessive compulsive tendencies, just as an example. That means that he really doesn’t know, but he is certain you have an anxiety disorder. My advice with respect to that is to simply not worry about the name of the anxiety disorder, but simply to agree that you do have an anxiety disorder.

Pure O is one of a subset of anxiety disorders called OC Spectum disorders. Basically, an anxiety disorder that has some sort of obsession and sometimes compulsions. Pure O is used to diagnose people who have no known compulsions, but are plagued with obsessions that in most cases terrify them to the point of panic. This is my case and due to the fact that no doctor has been able to give me an accurate diagnosis or for that matter, no two have given me the same diagnosis, I like to describe my disorder as Pure O because this particular subset of symptoms seems to best or most accurately describe my anxiety disorder.

If you look into it too much more deeply, you’ll find all kinds of conflicting ideas about different disorders and diagnosis, but at the end of the day it comes down to what your doctor thinks and what you think best fits your set of symptoms. There is nothing concrete about it and it should have no real affect on how your doctor will treat you. You will most likely end up on the same meds or receive the same therapy that everyother anxiety disorder does. Usually an SSRI and sometimes a benzo with a suggested cognitive behavioral therapy regimen and at the end of the day, this is typically the correct medical course of action from a doctor’s view.

I personally believe that the anxiety disorder is part of your genes manifesting itself simply due to a threshold of stress being surpassed. Once panic happens once, you don’t forget and the fear takes hold. At this point the anxiety becomes a chronic disorder. I do believe in some cases medication is the correct way to go, but I also think that a persons health and way of live are probably the largest contributor to an anxiety disorder. So, meds alone will not ever really work unless the life imbalances are not dealt with. I am not a doctor. I only speak from my experiences.”

Hope this helps,
OE