xchoicex

um i hope i opened up the thread in the right place.
anyways the thing is this:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

1) For the people who are not familiar with it:
Definitions (& info) of obsessive compulsive disorder on the Web(google):

• an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and persistent thoughts and feelings and repetitive, ritualized behaviors
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic anxiety disorder most commonly characterized by obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions. Compulsions are tasks or "rituals" which attempt to neutralize the obsessions. ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive-compulsive_disorder
• A form of anxiety characterised by an obsessive compulsion to repeatedly perform trivial or meaningless actions
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obsessive-compulsive_disorder
• A type of anxiety disorder consisting of the persistent intrusion of unwanted and uncontrollable thoughts and compulsions (repeated, senseless activities).
  www.snowdenmentalhealth.com/glossary.mgi
• an anxiety disorder in which a person has an unreasonable thought, fear, or worry that he or she tries to manage through a ritualized activity to ...
  www.rwjuh.edu/health_information/adult_mentalhealth_glossary.html
• An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurrent unwanted thoughts or rituals that the individual cannot control. A person who has OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals, such as hand washing or checking.
  science-education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/Mental/other/glossary.htm
• ( OCD ). Characterised by intrusive, unwanted, repetitive thoughts and rituals performed out of a feeling of urgent need; at least one-third of adult cases begins in childhood.
  www.hon.ch/Dossier/MotherChild/child_mentalhealth/anxiety_disorders.html

2) More info?

"Almost one out of every 40 people will suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder at some time in their lives. The condition is two to three times more common than either schizophrenia or manic depression, and strikes men and women of every ethnic group, age and social level. Because the symptoms are so distressing, sufferers often hide their fears and rituals but cannot avoid acting on them. OCD sufferers are often unable to decide if their fears are realistic and need to be acted upon. [...]

The degree to which this condition can interfere with daily living also varies. Some people [...] find the obsessions and compulsions to be profoundly traumatic and spend much time each day in compulsive actions.

Obsessions are intrusive, irrational thoughts that keep popping up in a person's mind, such as "my hands are dirty, I must wash them again.[...]

The difference between OCD and other compulsive behavior is that the compulsions of OCD are never pleasurable."
(Answers.com)

3) I'm sure many of you have heard of this "illness". I have a friend who suffers from this disorder. She has been since the age of 12 an obsessive-compulsive hand washer and cleaner. It's been 8 years she is trying to stop this or just make it more tolerable. This illness has taken so much of her life on a daily basis she literally spends at least 2 hours each day washing her hands not to mention the fact that some days, the anxiety is much much worse then others.
Long story made short: A couple of month ago, she was introduced to our friend Mary J. and started smoking. Yesterday, she had a bad day (her anxiety was on fire seriously), she was crying and said she needed MJ. she said everytime she smokes up, she forgets that she NEEDS to wash or do so... she said that it reduces her washing acts to 50%!

What do you guys think? anyone have similar stories? any info will be appreciated...

Im convincing her to go see a psychologist (she was seeing one in her teenage years for other reasons and absolutely hated it, not to mention that she used to take antidepressant and now she is soo happy that she has cleaned her systeme from that sh*t its been 2 years) and she is hesitating.
She said she found the cure: Mary helps alot.
I dont wana upset her, I really wana support her and help her out... But honestly, i don't think she got her finger on the right spot here
If you google "OCD and Marijuana", you wont get not ONE positive link...

ps: oh and really sorry for the LONG thread..

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