Today's guest, Jennifer, suffers from extreme obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Her daily rituals associated with the disorder are taking control of her life. We recently spent an evening with Jennifer, starting at 7 PM and ending around 3 AM. Take a look at what happened...
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Hey was there an update on how Jennifer is doing? I felt really bad for her and her Mother. Hope she's getting better. Peace be with you Jennifer.
Please give me the name of the clinic in Arizona where I might be able to contact someone to help my granddaughter. Her OCD is worse than what you saw on Anderson today. She begs to go away someplace so that she can get help. We need help, quickly.
OCD is only part of the problem. I am intelligent, a perfectionist also became an anorexic and hospitalized. Her situation is identical. Food restrictions starves the mind. Thus inturn becoming more OCD and having beliefs in angels, psychic abilities, etc. Calorie counting came up repeatedly, it is an "OCD" behaviour but also anorexia. I can tell you the calorie count, fat content, weight and evrything. The number of tiles on a wall. Information and help is the key to overcoming this. It never goes away but you can learn techniques to work with it and manage at a normal level. She keeps saying she's not anorexic but everything she does she is stating makes "her deal bad and guilty". ie. her self esteem. She needs to get help to eat so she can think clearly. I fought everyone but it's the TRUTH. When you start dealing with the food issue first everything else will become a little easier because your brain is functioning properly then. A lot of the OCD will tone down down. I was 85lb, at 5'5" and protein shakes, and tarot cards and running 1/2 hr at 7.5mph. I know what I am talking about and I just hope she gets the help she needs. OCD doesn't kill. Anorexia will. Both will never go away but you can live and function amongst the rest if you focus your OCD on learning about ways to manage the glitches. Take care.
A quick tip to mom's/family's. I have lived with a daughter who developed OCD 9 years ago. No medicines or psychiatry helped at all. It was at least as extreme as this girl on Cooper's show. Every room had to be made "perfect" and I would have to lock the door so my daughter would be "ok" with that area. She would erase answers on papers until holes were made in papers. Toilet paper and towels had to be perfectly set in the bathroom. She would go right back and go through each room. This was ALL DAY everyday. It was driving us crazy b/c she would scream and cry and would tell us she can't stop "checking" things. She could never just sit and rest. We found a wonderful DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor who found her immune system had been torn down from overuse of antibiotics as an infant, she had fungal dysbiosis, her body wasn't absorbing nutrients, etc. We changed her diet to whole foods, gluten-free, casein-free, gave her B-12 Methylcobalamin shots twice a week to open cells to detox (let the "crap" out so nutrients could begin going to each cell). Many other vitamins that her body needed, but was low in. Immediate change set-in within two weeks of changing the diet. Many months later the OCD began to fade to a very tolerable state. We still see OCD from time to time; especially when our daughter goes away from the diet or gets tired of taking vitamins. That high level of OCD that was taking over her life has not come back, I pray it never will...not to that extreme level. These DAN! doctors don't have all the answers, but are on the right track. This daughter, by the way, is not considered "autistic" per se, but very high-functioning. If anything, she resembles an autism-spectrum child/person with Asperger's Syndrome. I hope this helps families to know their is help and it's worth a shot for them.
I am a OCD sufferer, I have had experienced suicidal thoughts and attempted it once. I have successfully learned to control the thoughts. I have anxiety first that grows and triggers the thoughts, as long as I don't let them take over I'm alright. Family and friends support has been wonderful, but also several trips to the Emergency Room, have not been easy but have helped.
There is a reason why I'm commenting on this... after the thoughts have been somehow kept under control, the OCD became so overwhelming that I couldn't keep up and fell into a very deep depression. From going to cleaning and several rituals... I went to the point that if I was not going to do it perfect, I didn't do it at all. Everything... and I mean everything in my life has been affected. My house went from being organized and having everything labeled and where it belongs... to chaos. I'm not a hoarder but my condo sure looks like it belongs to one.
People talk about OCD and getting better and avoiding suicide... it does not end there. It has to do with so much more. I was obsessive about almost everything in my life. I am not suicidal anymore but I feel that I'm living a nightmare. I went from doing everything with care and very strict routines... to spend hours doing nothing, lots of crying, and when I try to go back and organize and try to make my place better... I literally get stock and can't move on. My husband has left me... my problem is part of it, and I believe is affecting my 15 year old daughter. Anderson, do you think that you can do something to help me???
Lucrecia Yvette Nickel
Please give me the of the doctor and where she or him practices, also the clinic that my son can check. If Anderson would like to help someone he is a good candiate. It's been over 20 yrs. for him. Thank You
I just want to thank you for airing this epidsode. We who have OCD hopefully can laugh at it. My son who has grown up with Epilepsy, Tourettes, Autism...add...ocd...Marfan...
my obsessions of thoughts are close to my sons issues.....can u imagine??
I am looking for a replay of the entire segment with Jennifer who was suffering from OCD. How can I view the show again? Thank you
ocd.... i was watching the show and realized as it unfolded that jennifer was not going to to be successful with the treatment option, she wants to end the suffering by being in heaven and until a professional can provide a few hours of one on one with her this probably won't change; anderson, please don't give up on her, give her more help and another chance to recover her life.
I turned on the TV today and saw this show and was amazed...I know Jennifer. I remember her from 10years ago at my gym in NB. She looked so much happier/healthier then and I always used to see her smile.
It hurt me to see how far this has taken over her life and her smile. Jennifer if you ever read this you are beautiful, you don't need an hour everyday at the gym....you need to get healthy! People care about you and I remember that smile cause you used to say hello to me everyday and smile, I remember it and I am sure I am not the only one...you have lots to live for.
Best of luck in treatment cause you deserve it!
-Jenny
So sad to watch your show today and have Jennifer not accept treatment for her OCD. Unfortunately, I am afraid she will join angels in heaven very shortly if she doesn't get help.
My son in law has OCD every bit as bad as your guest today, if not worse. He has not been ablle to work for more than 3 years. His father goes to his house every day and gets him out of bed and spends the day with him while my daughter goes to work and my grandson goes to daycare. He has been seeing a Cognitive Behavior Therapist, a psychiatrist, and is taking ALOT of medications but nothing seems to be helping. Their marriage is at the breaking point. We all think he needs to go somewhere for residential treatment but we don't know where to go for information about this. Can you help?
I'm commenting on the OCD segment. My son also has OCD. He's been through a tough couple of years, we've been through a tough couple of years. We finally sought help from Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health outside of Chicago for OCD. After a couple of weeks of intensive therapy my son has his life back. He still strugles with OCD and always wil but the difference those 2 weeks made was immense. I hope the woman in your segment will look into getting help.
This sounds more like an eating disorder turned into OCD (or covered up by OCD)
watching this makes me very sad. It is a stressful, crippling disorder. You know you have a problem, but its hard to stop the cycle. This could have been me if I hadn't gotten help. She will get better, I know she will. I can tell she is exhausted.
Looking forward to today's show.