Re: Re: coming off meds a big mistake - Regarding vivid imagination

[Guest guest]

Regarding your son with vivid imagination: I can't speak from experience with

my OCD son but I know I have (although undiagnosed) some minor OCD traits to me.

Anyway, about the vivid imagination part of it. I, too, have always had this

and in times when I am the most distraught over things I cannot change or

something awful that's happened I use this imagination (even though knowing full

well that it is not true) to create this little world where it is true just

simply to make myself happy, to make myself 'okay' because otherwise it seems as

though I can't handle the truth. Does this make sense? Then slowly, ever so

slowly, I find a way to be okay with the reality of the situation. I know this

is not healthy but it seems to be the only way I can handle things at times.

Donna Henry

" Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. "

The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King

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To:

Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 8:23:11 AM

Subject: Re: coming off meds a big mistake

Ditto here. We took our son off Zoloft due to side effects and OCD being totally

in check after 9 months. He was fine for awhile but then within a couple of

weeks went back to where he was in the beginning, basically scared of " unclean "

things. We ended up checking him into a hospital because he wouldn't go home

because it was too exhausting to go through his extensive coming home routine.

He also wouldn't eat. At least he got a better psychiatrist by going to the

hospital, very kind and experienced. However, unfortunately some of the nursing

staff looked on his OCD behavior as a disciplinary issue and took away all the

hand sanitizer, locked his bathroom and basically wouldn't let him clean. He

stood in his room all night, feeling he was unclean and when we came to visit

the next morning he insisted on going home, saying it was the only way he could

now get clean. The doctor said he would speak with the nurses, but it was too

late, because not eating

meant he would not swallow his pill and I knew he needed to get started again.

So now he is slowly getting better again. He is in ERP therapy. No one responded

to my question about imagination. Maybe I wasn't clear. He seeks reassurance by

asking me questions that are obviously not true and can only be calmed by my

responding yes, such as " Xmas is tomorrow, right? " (because he wants to feel

happy) or he pictures me " cleaning " the unclean room with eight arms whirling

fast. He has always had a vivid imagination, yet is very pragmatic when it comes

to facts. When I ask him later if he really believes these things when under OCD

anxiety, he says he knows they aren't true, but it makes him feel better. He's

13. His last therapist used his powerful imagination to have him come up with

strategies to beat OCD, such as his arm was full of shining light and he could

open doors with it. She thought it was a great tool he had. Now his new

therapist is questioning

whether he is bordering on psychotic or if it's just a powerful imagination.

Any thoughts on this?