Dear sofia:

I was diagnosed myself with OCD, have suffered from OCD from an early age, obsessions and compulsions. Your writing very much look like the writings of a person suffering from OCD.

I know you post in different websites and read a lot online. I don’t want our communication to be on that level. I want you to really pay attention to what I write to you. I suggest you copy and save what I posted to you on the first page as well as on this page, maybe print it so that you can re-read it.

Notice this: yesterday at 2:05pm my time, you wrote: “Anita, I don’t think you know how much those words truly helped me. No one has been able to help me as much as you just did. Thank you.”

1 hour and 28 minutes later (3:33pm my time), you posted to me: “Anita, I’m sorry to bother you again, but I had another thought cross my mind. Since I feel like wishing for others to do things to others that can cause much pain for the victim, does that mean I should feel pain myself?”

— your relief lasted less than an hour and a half. Maybe much less because you were probably distressed for a little while before you posted again.

Your relief was based, so it happened, on good information that I gave you, but it was short lived and a new thought occurred to you, a thought that didn’t take into consideration the good information I gave you, that which you wrote was so helpful to you. This is the nature of OCD, the person suffering listens for a moment, take in information that is helpful.. and then forgets as a new thought occurs that feels true.

When I wrote that I don’t want our communication to be on the same level as that which you already have elsewhere, I mean that I don’t want you to bring up a distressing thought, then I reply, you feel better, a little bit later, you bring up another distressing thought (ignoring my input on the reply I just posted to you), I reply (repeating the same information), you feel better and then… again.

This is why I suggest that you print my posts to you on page 1 and re-read them when you entertain yet another distressing thought.

* Another thing: make sure your behavior is not harmful to yourself or to others, that is, what you actually say and/ or do to others.

anita