I Have Struggled for Years




> From the U.S.: My question is, I have dealt with [OCD](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/ocd/) intrusive thoughts (religious mostly),general [anxiety](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/anxiety/), and [social anxiety](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/anxiety/specific-phobia-symptoms/) since I was 12 years old (my grandfather had to have shock treatments for the same thing and was in a psych ward for 6 months when he was in his 40s, he has been on Thorazine ever since). I have been to the doctor about it and have been on antidepressants (SSRIs: Paxil, Zoloft and SNRIs: Effexor, Cymbalta) more than those I know, I just can’t think of all right now. None of the meds have really helped a lot. I have also had horrible insomnia for years due to the ocd intrusive thoughts so much so that I would take tons of Tylenol pm just to get to [sleep](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/sleep/) at night, it ended up almost ruining my liver.
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> I have never been to a Psychiatrist or a Therapist just general practitioners regarding my problems. I have struggled for years and now I feel that I need to see a professional and I’m scared I’m not going to find a good one. I feel I have so many problems that I want someone who can deal with all of them. How do I find a psychiatrist good enough and how do I explain all of this to one person without them thinking I need to go into a mental institution. I afraid (because of what happened to my grandfather) and I have always felt that they would want to put me in a padded room somewhere. I know I need the help, I just don’t know what to do.
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> I Have Struggled for Years
A.  You wouldn’t go to a pediatrician if you had cancer. You wouldn’t go to a kidney specialist if you had heart trouble. All doctors are not alike. Sometimes we have to go to the right specialist to get the help we need. In your case, you need both a psychiatrist and a therapist who work together to get the right care.


The treatment of choice for your problems is a combination of medication and talk [therapy](https://psychcentral.com/psychotherapy/). [OCD](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/ocd/) and [anxiety](https://psychcentral.com/disorders/anxiety/) disorders can be treated and managed successfully. Generally, patients see their therapist weekly and, after an initial period of weekly visits to get the medication right, they see their psychiatrist every few months. When the two professionals are working in the same practice, they are able to confer with each other easily and work together to give you good care.



I understand that you have been afraid to see a mental health professional because of your grandfather’s experience. But treatments have changed considerably since your grandfather’s time. From the little you shared, I also suspect he had a much different problem.


To find a specialist, ask your primary care doctor for a referral to a practice. You can also go to the “Therapist Locator” on the homepage of PsychCentral.


Please don’t hesitate to make an appointment for an initial session. The clinician will listen to your story and will make suggestions. (Take your letter with you if you want to jump start the conversation.) You are under no obligation to follow through with the treatment plan that is proposed. But I hope you do. You’ve suffered far too long.


I wish you well.  

Dr. Marie


I Have Struggled for Years
this is absolutely clasic and typical obsessive-compulsive disorder. see a good local psychiatrist for a full assessment and assistance. drugs like nuzak can help, and also cbt style counselling. fortunately this is very successfully treatable, and so you can get it cleared up without extra delay. I think many of us have to depend more on observation and self-study than on diagnoses, given the expense of testing and the ugly fact that nothing short of an autopsy can give certainty. Here’s how we are coping with that uncertainty. Before my Mom came to live with us, she had fallen at night going toward the bathroom in her apartment. It was 3 days before anyone found her, and there was severe dehydration and some brain damage due to oxygen starvation. She recovered some functioning in rehab, but we had also noticed before the fall that there were more and more signs of cognitive decline. We were warned by a friend who is a geriatric psychologist to not accept the overall “Alzheimer’s” diagnosis which was bound to occur, but to be aware that there were dozens of dementias, some of which needed very different approaches from what is advised for Alzheimer’s. After she got out of rehab she went through a very bad AL situation and into a very good one. She had a GP who made housecalls but was not that knowledgeable about dementia. She had begun describing what could only be hallucinations and agitation, so her doctor put her on an anti-psychotic, an anti-anxiety and a depression medication. Wow! What a mess! Mom had rarely even taken an aspirin before that so maybe her body was super-responsive to the invaders. Anyway, it did more damage than good, and once we eliminated the meds, she slept all the time. We decided to move her in with us and her new doctor prescribed Namenda. We started with 10 mg, which was too much and increased her agitation. We cut back to 5 mg. once a day at nighttime and it was like a miracle occurred! Now don’t get me wrong, there’s still dementia and it’s still advancing. But my point is that sometimes when you don’t have a diagnosis, it’s useful to read up on the various kinds of dementias, do a checklist of the symptoms to determine which is the best match to the behaviors you are seeing, then become knowledgeable about the various RX’s physicians are likely to try, and get very good at monitoring the response to each and asking about/suggesting others you’ve read about. (I know, you thought that was what doctors did — me, too! Wrong!). I found that as long as I behaved as a fairly well-informed and non-judgmental problem-solving partner (and not as an over-protective, aggressive, critical, and sometimes hysterical relative), I got the same treatment back from the doctors. (Of course, if I did not get that, I did not hesitate to find a doctor with an attitude that worked better for us.). Over time, the troubles with balance, the hallucinations that occur immediately if she misses a dose of Namenda, the depth perception, the amount of activity and conversation that goes on while she’s “sleeping”, the extreme variability from “almost normal” to “almost unable to function”, etc. convinced me it is LBD. It’s not a formal diagnosis because we can’t afford all that testing either. But it’s enough for me to protect her from getting inappropriate medications. While there may come a time to move her to a memory care unit, I will also be able to be proactive with staff about what works with her LBD that is probably vastly different from what works with some of their ALZ patients. Summary: observe, study, and use your best and most loving judgment, with or without a diagnosis. Respect but don’t worship the doctors who are trying to help. And trust your gut. You spend more time with your LO than anyone else and your observations are valuable. in many cases it can be treated or managed. first step - a medical consultation to rule out medical conditions, medication, etc. a psychological or psychiatric eval can determine if the insomnia is really part of a treatable psychiatric condition, and practicing good sleep hygiene / working with a psychologist can help. http://cpancf.com/articles\_files/sleephygienehandout.asp. see more... help! i am a female, in my mid 50's. my mri showed mild cervical and lumbar stenosis, with multi-level degenerative disc disease. there was also multi level mild foriminal encroachment, and disc buldging. the pcp sent me to a physical therapist for exercises for my lumbar spine. the pt found that i have thoracic joint dysfunction and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. she saw that i could not do squats, either. could someone tell me if it is normal for a woman my age to have so much wrong with her spine? should the pcp try to find out what is causing the thoracic and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, before any mnore physical therapy? (i have had stiffness and pain in my sacral spine since 2001, and it has gotten progressively worse. i also have leg muscle pain and heaviness when i stand or walk, that is also getting progressively worse.) could i have spinal stenosis in my thoracic region? (it feels like a band of tightness around my chest, and i can not turn over in bed.) could i have sacral nerve compression? im sorry ur going through this......i cant answer ur questions as still looking my own answers but i can tell u what has helped me, i think u should also try it.................a natural drug recommended to me by pain consultant.......glucosamine sulphate.....also take cod liver oil capsuals..........although it is not a cure i felt alot more ease of general pain, bones/joints and muscles. please try them ! hopefully someone here will be able to answer ur questions ! i wish u well ! :) there are a number of possible reasons, but narcolepsy may well be what you have. you need to get a set of sleep tests (it takes about 24 hours in a sleep laboratory). then a proper diagnosis can be made, and all of the conditions can be treated.<br><br>you really need help asap. @a myfibroteam member 

how nice of you to say that. i, like many others, have asked god why? why am i the one who has this painful, incurable illness? why am i the one with major depressive disorder? why am i the one that was sexually assaulted so many times? why am i the one who has had to take care of my sister’s children, help them pay for their educations, and support them as they navigate the waters of this crazy world we live in? why me? i made a conscious decision a few years ago, when my lifelong emotional scares got out of control, that i would make one of the answers to those questions be “to help others navigate through this thing called life”. if i can help just one person feel less alone, or like someone cares, or like there is hope after all i will have succeed at life. if i can help just one person fight back instead of giving in my life has a purpose. as a result, this normally very private person has gradually learned to be very open. i am not ashamed of the things that happened...disappointed or angry yes but not ashamed. i talk openly about how major depressive disorder has affected my life and how i’ve been able to come to terms with it. i talk openly about close brushes with suicide and what worked to get me back to a better place mentally. i talk a little less openly about the impact sexual assault had on every aspect of my life (that one is harder because i’m still working on some of the emotions and reactions around it). i talk openly about the changes i’m having to make as fibromyalgia makes itself more and more obvious in me. i’m not perfect. i still get angry and upset. i still get frustrated. i still feel hopeless sometimes. i feel all the negative emotions everyone else does but if i can help just one person, i will have a reason for all i’ve gone through. perhaps people on this site are that reason. it is my deepest hope that others don’t have to suffer as i have but, if they have, i want to use my god-given caregiver heart to help them through. 

may god bless and keep you. 

shirley I would suggest looking for an assisted living or Memory Care program. Sounds like he needs to have a Power of Attorney assigned for finance and also one for health care. Has anyone in the family broached these topics with your father? Unfortunately, you are now in the position of needing to be more proactive in caring for your father, much like your parents did for you when you were a child unable to make decisions for yourself. It sounds like it is time for a family meeting with your siblings, if you have any, or contacting your local Department on Aging to assist you with the activities that need to be done to adequately care for your elderly father. help. the starting point is a comprehensive psychological assessment. talking therapy is important. cognitive behavioral therapy can be very effective. you may need medications. if you have active thoughts about killing yourself with a plan - then you need to be seen asap at the nearest emergency room. there is hope. you are worthy of getting excellent treatment. see more... it is best to see doc for proper evaluation and treatment. there are otc med and rx med but work differently for different pts. one may respond better to you may not respond good with other pts.doctor can help you to find the causes of your chronic acidity such as stress, diet etc.. see more... i am 26 years old and have the same problems, i have had all the testing, let me know what you hear.thanks!