Cognitive Renovation
Advanced solutions for rewiring brain
I'd like to introduce my self-directed approach in this article. I used both experience and well proven information all together in order to explain how to override a learned disorder that is called OCD. I will summarize that important points in order to highlight their vital importance and call this renewal process as Cognitive Renovation. It can be think a protocol of actions that might be helpful for someone who suffer from automatic and useless compulsive behaviors. There are many sources refer important points that I mentioned here but I aimed to bring close them together and add my experience and insight. My aim to do this is providing an understanding about response preventing.
Mastering some skills have a vital importance when tackling with OCD. To do this, there is a necessity to determine and target every symptoms one by one. This also means that tackling one symptom will give opportunity to learn a skill that can apply one another.
Tackling with OCD is a hard job but it is treatable with a determined effort and fortunately there are well structured therapies and these are putting to use both cognitive and behavioral aspects. And learning to overcome one mental difficulty would give chance to apply these learned tools to other difficulties. Treatment protocols differ from one another for any disorder but it is very clear that you can gain sufficient perspective and see the difficulties from different point of view. Someone learning a foreign a language knows how to learn any other language.
Solutions such as Exposure and Response Prevention do miracles during suffering. On the other hand, without positive changes in thinking patterns; recovery would spread over time and bring pressure on you.
Fighting more than one front line
Overactive Brain. It is known that OCD is related to brain activities. Overactive brain filters any thought that can be either fatal important or trivia. Processing every thought requires enormous inner energy and changes brain chemistry as usual. First goal will be calming overactive brain and using every opportunity to achieve this. Racing mind causes two main problems.
a)prolonged data processing time
b)catching every thought either it is important or not
Intolerance. As obsessive mind gets stuck some useless thinking patterns and develops automatic responses to them, it can be highly intolerant of not just for uncertainty but also interpersonal relationships ie. Being insistent on his own decisions or not open to suggestions etc. Working hard on relearning tolerance will make you more flexible against compulsions.
Anger, Aggressiveness and Perfectionism. Challenge perfectionism and anger on daily basis.
Catastrophizing. Decatastrophizing is a therapeutic tool often used by CBT. Feeling less anxious about having OCD and decatastrophizing the negative consequences would give you opportunity to spend your valuable time not for the problem but the solution. Change your perspective about how you see obsessions or anxiety in order to master it. For example, you can feel pain when reading a self help book about your disorder but you would better carry on reading instead of worrying. In some instances, you can come across a needed information that can lead you a quick recovery and fast relief. Or you realize that you might have been practicing a false strategy for a symptom and you can ascertain how to implement the correct strategy.
Worry. Worry contribute to chemical imbalance. OCD without depression and anger will ease and support your efforts. It will be helpful to call back your focus and attention from negativity and conflicts. Sadness induces activation of amygdala and lack of serotonin is considered as one of the reasons of OCD . When you surrender to worry, you have to know that you are activating amygdala.
Affirmation: I am consciously choosing to resist (to activate Amygdala) by redirecting my attention and focus from worry to present.
Rumination. Reducing intrusive thinking duration may be possible by engaging in constructive activities. Being active and keeping busy yourself will be part of treatment plan. Passive activities like watching TV more than reasonable time will move you away from your targets. For example; Concentrating on breath or meditation may serve this purpose. You can say mindfulness refer to these skills well in advance. I am trying to say that when you realize any time ruminating, focusing your breath or outside voice immediately in order to reduce intrusive thinking duration.
Affirmation: As I ruminate less, my mind will be clear.
Memory Lapses. Having experienced disorder during a prolonged time without an effective treatment may cause some side effects and difficulties such as forgetting how to apply some skills that he used to before. For example; someone unable to remember how to make an appropriate eye contact as it was in the past good days. Dealing with a problem with all energy may lead to go unnoticed some problematic and adverse behavioral changes by himself. These behaviors can be modified by making observations on normal healthy behavior patterns and carriying out behavioral experiments.
Building new skills:
Some people feel hopeless about difficulties most of people suffer from time to time. From my point of view, this stems from lack of information. My solution for any problem is to read and research about it first. But this is not a get them all approach or hoarding every information. Because OCD is a disorder that requires work hard to overcome, you have to know more about and understand it so thoroughly. Unlearning or relearning a skill, we have to comprehend the mechanism of brain when performing a compulsion. If brain does not overcome a problem in a reasonable time, it needs to cope with problem of deadlock by providing its own strategy that will most probably be the false one. When you get information, you can feel strong confidence how and when to intervene the mechanism to block compulsions and break the deadlock. As we get this point, we will be able to find opportunity to apply new protocols and clean up useless thinking patterns and behaviors.
Response prevention is a tool using for unlearning a useless habit and aims to habituate and teach brain new constructive behavior. There are some key points to remember;
Being Systematic. Key concept is being systematic. I don't mean daily but doing systematically more than two or more within a day.
Instant Cognitive Correction. Correcting negative evaluations just at that moment when realize your automatic thought.
Resisting to urges. Resist any urge firmly and not act on them. This is called response prevention, the hardest part at all. Someone who couldn't understand the logic behind RP would challenge compulsions vainly. You can accept ERP is the key, but that is not enough. Response prevention has vital importance. Give response prevention its due and use this strategy effectively. Urge will be strong when expose a stimuli. At that time, as you can know you are experiencing reasonable distress. What unbearable discomfort it is or what a lovely gift that give you one of opportunity not to be missed. When you surrender your urges, you will score an own goal.
Affirmations. Helpful cognitive reminders will support your challenge. Remind yourself these cognitive speech bubbles at any time when you face a stimuli in order to correct your distorted thinking and regulate your emotions.
Compulsions are ineffective and useless at all.
Ocd is an unnecessary problem and I am needlessly suffering.
More than second check is unnecessary and neurotic.
Checking can become a dangerous and harmful habit.
Blocking Compulsions. Brain tend to react to a problem in the same previously way at every turn. We can call this reaction as automatic. Because of this, experiencing a vicious cycle is unavoidable. Only blocking compulsions and breaking the link between thoughts and false coping mechanism can radically change mind's responses and allow it to learn new behavior. OCD can persist if this critical point could not be understood completely. When feel urge, you realize that it is time for another round. As many rounds as you face, it will be easier to beat obsession even when sometimes you slip. You will eventually level up with nail and blood. Changing perception about urge and discomfort will ease up.
Remember that blocking compulsions when exposure is extremely important but as the same time beware of any covert and passive avoidance. Time period when you challenging not to perform ritual gives you excellent chance to be able to rewire up and change habitual compulsive response. It is the critical juncture.
Mastering cognitive stages of habitation process. Think of learning something new. For example, who can say easy to learn an instrument. Method is the same when implementing intervention strategy to cognitive process. It requires paying attention, expending effort and time, trying again and again.
Habituate new constructive response
Realize that urge comes and goes naturally
Learn to resist surrendering any urges not only to compulsions but also to cravings, overeating, addictions etc.
Realize that you would easily forget past distresses even it was one day before
Enjoy your successful pace of growth
Use vivid picture illustrating gains and joy after recovery
Disclaimer
The ideas in this article are not intended as a substitute for consultant or treatment with a qualified mental health professional.Consulting a mental health professional will ease and speed up your recovery. Please consult a qualified therapist.
