My friend recently came down with some kind of mental issue.. 3 weeks ago, he saw someone bleeding really, really bad & it enters his mind several times and makes him feel sick.. other times right before he eats he will get the thoughts and feel sick.. he's losing weight because he's not eating, lost 18 pounds. So now whenever he sees something that really grosses him out.. he replays it in his mind and sometimes can't stop thinking about it & makes him nauseous. . Kind of like bad intrusive thoughts. The blood didn't traumatize him or anything, he's seen ppl bleed many times, he's an EMT. However, now if I sneeze or something, he will get grossed out for days about it. Or the other day we were at a restaurant, and someone was eating and it grossed him out.. and now he can barely eat because he thinks about it so much & how the guy was eating.
What can he do? Is this an OCD mental illness? Or some kind of mental issue? I didn't think having thoughts like that over and over could make ppl sick.
If you go to this link, scroll to page 1 (right blue arrows in corner) and read the first few paragraphs:
http://books.google.com/books?id=wgLZYUqgp-cC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=Hollander,+Eric%3B+Dan+J.+Stein+(1997).+%22Diagnosis+and+assessment%22.+Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive+Disorders.+nforma+Health+Care.+p.+1.&source=bl&ots=2Fyk3gc67V&sig=OprMiQ2SHR4sJ38yTYycHsyDcHM&hl=en&ei=hlASSp7zHpOyMbOx2PIM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPR10,M1 Helpful summary/intro.
Here is the DSM-IV diagnosis (taken from wikipedia):
"To be diagnosed with OCD, a person must have obsessions and/or compulsions, according to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria. The Quick Reference to the diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR (2000)[4] states six characteristics of obsessions and compulsions:
Obsessions
1. Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and that cause marked anxiety or distress.
2. The thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems.
3. The person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action.
4. The person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind, and are not based in reality.
Compulsions
1. Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.
2. The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not actually connected to the issue, or they are excessive.
In addition to these criteria, at some point during the course of the disorder, the individual must realize that his/her obsessions or compulsions are unreasonable or excessive. Moreover, the obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming (taking up more than one hour per day), cause distress, or cause impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning.[4] OCD often causes feelings similar to those of depression."
Your friend may be able to self-diagnose himself for OCD, but in order to be treated a doctor (or psychiatrist) will have to diagnose him. He can go to a mental hospital and be diagnosed, or call any hospital information center and see if he can be diagnosed there.
Your friend may or may not have OCD, and cannot be diagnosed over a forum. He needs to firstly educate himself and then see a doctor if he believes he may have OCD or has doubts.
Also from
http://ocd.stanford.edu/about/:
"OCD usually begins before age 25 years and often in childhood or adolescence. In individuals seeking treatment, the mean age of onset appears to be somewhat earlier in men than women. According to Swedo et al.'s report in 1989, in a series of 70 children and adolescents seen at the National Institute of Mental Health, the mean age of onset was 9.6 years for boys and 11.0 for girls. In a series of 263 adult and child patients, Lensi et al. in 1996 reported that the mean age at onset was 21 years for men and 24 years for women."
The traits you described can be charachteristics of a myriad of mental issues, some which can be addressed by therapy, a good plan, or medication. Weight loss is a common trait of OCD or depression. Your friend may be dealing with issues that do or do not require treatment. However, there are some clear signals to seek therapy (either a therapist or a psychaitrist; most therapists will recommend medication if they believe it necessary, which it may or may not be in varying circumstances). Physical side effects which begin to impair one's personal, social or work life can be a definite sign to seek some sort of help. It is hard to say because there are so many outside factors not described. I would recommend to your friend first educate (read over the posted links and quotes etc), and if he/she feels they need help or is unsure, seek it. Hope this helps.
Topic: Hey everyone, what kind of disorder is this? (Read 1132 times)
June 16, 2008, 10:10:38 AM