Bipolar Disorder and OCD

[@michellelalonde5725]

You are an incredibly brave young woman to be so transparent and vulnerable. My husband checks all the boxes for bipolar and OCD but refuses to get an assessment. We’ve been together for 10 years and I’ve read at least 100 books, watched thousands of scholarly videos and spoken with many counselors about his symptoms. But your video is authoritative because you’ve lived it. I feel badly for him, but I also can’t have my son-in-law his warpath. I’m trying to find videos that will help me to leave him kindly.

[@alexas.3306]

Thank you so much for this very gracious comment. Blessings to you and your family.

[@stevenfeldman8748]

Thank you so much for being willing to share about these most difficult of conditions. Hope you are doing great.

[@aaronmilnthorpe8982]

You've done a great job sharing this, I also have OCD and really appreciate your honesty.

[@wordandwater9027]

Thank you for this !

[@antoniobreaux1584]

I have OCD and Bipolar Disorder diagnosed also. Good to know other people with the same disorders.

[@antoniobreaux1584]

Orfe Hey! Thx for replying. Are you serious about the radiation stuff? Maybe it’s not that big of a deal 🧐

[@antoniobreaux1584]

Orfe Also, what meds are you on? I’m on Latuda and Lithium. The exercise is great also.

[@antoniobreaux1584]

Orfe Thanks for the info

[@mahziyarrostamiyar4513]

hey bro. i have ocd and bipolar2. but anywhere i cant find a guy thats like me. mix of these two disorders can make an strange disorder. and anywhere isn’t any information about them. i can Diagnosis ocd but bipolar is so Ambiguous for me. The doctor diagnosed it for me. but there is so many Ambiguous things. The good and bad episodes are very burst and fast. and Many times this is not the case, but it is all a change. Change of ideas, change of thoughts, change of purpose, instability in nothing. Emotions are not constant. I go up and down and change so much that I no longer trust my feelings. My thoughts have no control over my emotions. I feel like I'm nobody and I have no control over anything. That is why I say bipolar is ambiguous to me. I know there is something other than him CD, but I can not recognize it. For example, I have never been in a mania phase continuously for a month. And I was never depressed for a month. It's all mixed up and it happens one after the other. I'm sorry for English. If you have a telegram, this is my idea to keep in touch @mahziyarrrrrrrr

[@antoniobreaux1584]

@@mahziyarrostamiyar4513 you’re talking to me bro? I identify with instability of purpose and not being able to maintain an emotion

[@toniagilmore5231]

I have bi polar and OCD and PTSD as well its mentally draining I cant believe ssi gives us a hard time approving us if we could work we would.

[@macyhadley6431]

I can relate to the religious obsessions in ocd and to some of your medication side effects. Thanks for being brave and sharing.

[@ScyllaCinema]

thank you for this

[@yerritsricky3263]

Watching this through a really depressive stage and it really help to hear your experience it really helps! I have ptsd just recently got diagnosed with bipolar depression it’s been tough; an it helps learning more for others going through it as well

[@alexas.3306]

Aww, I'm so happy to hear that it's helped! You're definitely not alone, and please don't be hard on yourself for struggling. PTSD aggravates bipolar/anxiety/depression a lot

[@yerritsricky3263]

@@alexas.3306 it always feels good to know you’re not alone especially during the dark times. An you’re 100% right that’s one thing I’m still working on because I spent so many years beating up and blaming myself for everything not knowing why. It feels better to be mindful about everything takes a lot off

[@tajajain8400]

Thank you so much for talking about this. I have a sibling with bipolar and we suspect there may be OCD involved as well. Would you be willing to share some ways that others have supported you or how family members can support someone with OCD and Bipolar that you have found helpful? I am trying to educate myself on the disorders as much as I can. But I don't know what to do when they're going through a manic episode (they can be really severe,) or when I can tell that there's something on their mind that's bothering them and they don't want to talk about it. I know this person has a lot of panic attacks and obsessive thoughts but they have never talked about it with me (I only found out through my mother) I don't know if I should try to push for them to open up to me or how I should even talk to them when they're going through a rough patch. I honestly don't know the first place in how to be a supportive sister. please if there is anything that others do that you find helpful, or what kind of support you wish you had, I would really appreciate your insight. Again thank you for sharing your experience with these disorders, I have learned so much. I hope everything is well for you

[@alexas.3306]

aw literally a year late to this haha. i hope your sibling has gotten support since then! 1 year is a ton of time to get educated on it. hmm with a manic episode, it's good for them to make a plan while they're clear minded on what their boundaries are, what they do or do not consent to, what they need or who their emergency contacts are. calming activities could help. medication with mood stabilizers ultimately put my bipolar 1 into remission also on them opening up, i think they can do so when they feel ready. it's great that you wanna be there for them, so i think just letting them know that you're there for when they want to talk makes a good difference

[@michellelalonde5725]

I’m in the same place, only with my husband. I’m exhausted having to deal with the bipolar and OCD every day...I love him as a human being, but the rage and acting out is destroying our family. If he would even try to get help, I could manage better, but he refuses. I’m sad, angry, tired, and depressed living with this.

[@alexas.3306]

@@michellelalonde5725 I'm so sorry to hear this! I hope your family has been able to resolve the situation and heal from the damage.

[@jonwebb6644]

Thanks for the video. I can relate to what you were talking about a lot.

[@shauncarriere779]

Finally I found another person with BOTH disorders! We are a rare breed, however so intelligent! I was curious if you're OCD and bipolar compete with each other for "mind control". My OCD goes insane when I'm manic and then almost dormant in a depression....does this happen to you? Do you find yourself able to control one disorder better than the other? If so, which one dominates? I have so many questions for you, and also a theory for OCD and high anxiety disorders if you're interested in it. I have been battling these two monsters for all of my adult life and OCD started at age 7.....just like yourself it "went away" and returned five times stronger than before at age 25. Side question.....do you or did you have any type of addictions as well if you don't mind sharing?

[@alexas.3306]

Sure, this seems interesting to talk about. My OCD could become heightened while manic depending on what's being triggering. Otherwise I feel way too euphoric while manic so a lot of times I don't feel afraid to do or say a lot of things haha. If there is OCD like symptoms, it manifests itself as focusing on one thing very intensely or ritualistic behavior. I don't know whether or not it's OCD or oversentimentality, because I have also hoarded a lot of things and did "rituals" while manic. So there's no way for me to tell, especially when I think I'm "cured" during a manic episode Bipolar is way easier to manage because it's literally chemical in the ups and downs sometimes so a mood stabilizer has kept me stable enough since like February of this year, thank the Lord And yes, I have an addictive personality and have had a lot of different kinds of addictive behaviors. Some major ones in the past include smoking cigarettes, smoking weed, alcohol for like 2 weeks, binge eating and self harm (a long time ago and thankfully in the past)

[@shauncarriere779]

@@alexas.3306 THANK YOU for your response and further details. I agree bipolar is much more manageable chemically but I have also tried everything available for both problems and even attempted a double SSRI experiment with my psychiatrist. It worked great but after 12 weeks my body could not handle it. Did your rituals always seem perfect on the first few attempts while manic? Mine do. Anyways, putting BP on the shelf for a moment and focusing in on OCD and other high anxiety disorders.....my theory is simple... OCD and high anxiety is an addiction. Think about it on a chemical level. Dopamine is very well known for the reward function but not so much as the anticipation generator, of which it is.....so being addictive in nature makes sense in terms of "brain wiring"..... Dopamine wants a reward. OCD manifestation occurs in whatever form the individual takes to. Person performs such rituals. Reward given. Addiction to the dopamine reward/anticipation causes loop to continue..... Did that sound like a valid theory?

[@alexas.3306]

@@shauncarriere779 so the addicted to dopamine totally makes sense and is a valid idea, which is probably why people get addicted to dopamine releasing stuff like eating, online validation through likes/comments (irony haha), exercise etc. but stress and anxiety is a cortisol thing I think. It's possible for someone to get addicted to cortisol in response to what's perceived as negative or taxing stimuli because it can end up becoming the brains default way to respond to stress. So you have an OCD obsession, bam, it triggers cortisol. Ritual happens, stress/perceived threat is gone, bam, relief with maybe some dopamine. That might be the chemical, addicting part of OCD that contributes to being stuck in a loop. That's just what I think, I'm not a neurological professional by any means haha

[@alexas.3306]

@@shauncarriere779 also yeah I've done lots of things while manic and felt like it was perfect haha. During rituals too I'm pretty sure. I also started believing that I have heightened senses, am close to perfect and extremely keen supernatural premonition 😂 LOL

[@shauncarriere779]

@@alexas.3306 aaahhh mania....so sweet until you're no longer manic and you realize what just happened lol - thanks for support on the theory 😁....but it goes further... OCD is just a physical manifestation of the addiction..... Here's some additional arguments for being an addiction.... ---many people have anxiety but only a small portion have unmanageable anxiety --just like alcohol and gambling, many people can have a drink or place a bet and stay in control. Only a small percentage cannot and need assistance --- ERP therapy is a learning tool for abstinence....is exactly what we teach addicts Did I win your vote? Lol. BTW I also take lamotrigine @300mg/day. It does well with mood I find. Also I take 80mg of Prozac and 15mg of zoplicone..... pretty high doses but what else is available for the moment right? Another interesting point at least for me is that meds to fight the BP are the exact opposite for OCD treatment (by my theory with dopamine being the culprit)- which I might add are horrible antipsychotics that do nothing but turn you into a zombie. I refuse to lose the somewhat present clarity I have to a medication. There are lots of meds available however they only focus on one illness which is often not real life scenarios. Where are you from? I am in Toronto Canada.

[@opps8511]

I have OCD for 6 years and the symptoms kept shifting. Recently I have some symptoms that felt very much like cyclothymia. Would keeping an emotion/thought journal help me deal with them or would it make my OCD worse? Since that OCD is about overreaction to occasional harmful thoughts that makes them stuck in your mind.

[@opps8511]

I have a feeling that my cyclothymia symptoms are related to my recent obsessive thoughts but I’m not sure

[@alexas.3306]

I'm so sorry, I just read this comment! With OCD, I've found what helps is to use coping skills to let the thoughts get unstuck. If you think that have a thought journal would help that's a great idea, bc actually seeing the thought would make it easier to reason like "oh this isn't me. This is an intrusive thought, I don't have to worry or obsess over it"

[@abraxan1]

Our stories are so similar. I hope everything works out for you!

[@abraxan1]

@@alexas.3306 I'm going through the same types of steps to try to get better at managing and coping with my disorders and anxiety. My counselor has me running through a book called Mind over Mood. If you find things that work great for you, please let me know! And I can share things that help me with you. And your experiences with OCD are identical to mine.. Again, you are so brave for sharing! Just your story is one of triumph so far. Keep up the great work!

[@alexas.3306]

@@abraxan1 thank you so much. I really appreciate it. OCD is a curable disease. If you'd like to exchange notes or treatment options/coping mechanisms, my email is [e-mail]. Having new insight on OCD/other mental illnesses is always welcome. Take care and keep fighting!

[@abraxan1]

And i had never even heard of sexual OCD until today. I'm reading up on it

[@vergilsonofsparda341]

OCD can obsess over anything that makes you feel good, stop with th fancy words everyone let’s put it this way, the brain is drained from lack of dopamine diet poor diet too much research all the times and the brain can’t find pleasure in much from obsessive thinking so add bipolar too that? You will do drugs have lots of sex hurt urself and social isolate urself so anything is ocd that makes you feel good!

[@vergilsonofsparda341]

I know because I’ve done all of that

[@abraxan1]

Are you also currently being treated for depression at all? Or do you have depressive symptoms because of your bipolar /anxiety disorder? And how do your find therapy works? Does it depend on the therapist?

[@alexas.3306]

I'm seeing a DBT therapist every week alongside a regimen of antidepressants and an anticonvulsant/mood stabilizer drug. The mood stabilizer is for treating bipolar and the antidepressants are for depression. I've had depressive symptoms ever since an early age. Therapy is not a one size fits all kind of treatment. Every therapist is different and every person's mental and emotional issues are also based on the individual. My therapist is a really nice person who assigns DBT homework and mostly helps me deal with everyday problems. We haven't gotten to trauma recovery yet. I would give the therapist I have an 8/10. It does depend on the therapist and the patient, so finding the right one takes some trial and error.

[@abraxan1]

@@alexas.3306 thats good that you rate the therapist so highly. For me, the therapist and who they are is huge for me. If our conversation isnt stimulating, I tend to give up, and am quick to assume that they cant help me. Which isnt always the case. With your bipolar, do you have episodes daily? Or have they subsided with the medication? I know meds are very tricky to get right, especially with our types of conditions, and how our individuality is the root of why there is no "one size fits all" treatment. I've recently had Abilify added to my meds. It was hell to start, but my body seems to be adjusting ok now. However, I am super skeptical, like with all meds.

[@alexas.3306]

@@abraxan1 I totttally know what you mean about being hesitant about meds. I was pretty anti-medication before I realized that I needed it because of how my brain is wired. So bipolar can change from day to day with cycling, but my episodes usually last weeks or months depending on how severe it is or what's going on in my life. This is why DBT has been such a godsend, because I know my emotions don't have to overpower my actions or thoughts. I haven't noticed any super noticable difference with the medication. I'm still waiting on it getting better though. Be careful with abilify. Your psychiatrist is the best judge of that, I just have had bad experiences with antipsychotics and abilify has just given me weight gain lol