OCD/Orthorexia: Unhealthy Obsessions

Hello, Beautiful World!

I CANNOT believe it's already Week 10!!!! Like where has the time gone?!?!?!?! I swear, just yesterday I was starting to write my first post, thinking it'll be such a long time before I'm on Week 10... and here we are, friends 😒.  Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful support and love you've shown me on my blogging journey. To be completely honest, I think I'll still continue posting here occasionally under a new tab (I'll call it: Looking into the Future). What do you guys think?

Getting to the final disorder covered here on my blog, OCD/orthorexia, we'll begin with some general statistics and facts:

• OCD*:
• In the US, ~1 in 40 adults (~2.3% of the total population) and ~1 in 100 children are estimated to have OCD
• The following disorders may coexist with OCD: bipolar disorders, depression, ADHD, eating disorders, ASD, and TS. 

• Orthorexia**: 'an obsession with eating only healthy or "pure" foods'
• Term coined in 1996
• Sorry, I couldn't find many more statistics haha so that'll have to do :D

What surprised me about these statistics was how many other disorders OCD could coexist with!

Before meeting with Dr. Anné, I conducted a survey and looked through everyday media relevant to OCD/orthorexia. Starting off the meeting by asking her what misconceptions clients ​may have regarding orthorexia, I learned that clients think orthorexia is an eating disorder (which is wrong- it is a form of OCD). Orthorexia is not a formal diagnosis, nor is it under OCD. Clinically, however, it is seen through the lens of rigid OCD, not eating disorders (because eating disorders are superficially about body image and calories, while orthorexia is more about being clean, pure, and healthy). For OCD, clients commonly think that OCD is only about being super orderly and clean. Instead, these are characteristics of OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder), while avoiding germs and washing your hands frequently are signs of OCD. 

From here, Dr. Anné and I discussed more about OCD/orthorexia using the survey questions as a basis:

Misconceptions:

• Myth: Orthorexia is a sort of fad; suddenly people are focused on eating raw, organic, gluten-free, non-processed, and non-GMO foods. 
• Truth: Well, both eating disorders and orthorexia are OCD-based. Eating disorders can start as a diet, and then manifest into an eating disorder. The same applies to orthorexia: it can start with simply eating 'organic food,' but then become a problem.
• Myth: It is obvious when someone has OCD.
• Truth: It isn't unless you live with that person. It's more of an internal process than an external. 
• Myth: People with OCD are weak-willed and need to relax.
• Truth: Both people with OCD and OCPD wish they can relax, but cannot do so. With OCPD, a person is perfectionistic, driven, and organized to the point where it is stressful if anything isn't so. With OCD, one cannot relax because of all of the anxiety that fills them. 
• Myth: OCD is a personality quirk.
• Truth: It is rather a very genetic and biological/biochemistry-based disorder. It tends to run in families. For the most part, one is born towards that tendency, rather than being created out of the blue. There is also a certain component of chronic stress, which can trigger the OCD more frequently.
• Myth: All neat freaks have OCD.
• Truth: No, but many might (however, it is more OCPD than OCD). 
• Myth: OCD isn't treatable and can be diagnosed through blood tests. 
• Truth: OCD is very treatable because it is biological/has a physical cause. Hence, it is highly responsive to medication. There is no blood test, but rather an assessment based upon thought-processes and behaviors and genetic history. 

Some things that can be the truth or a myth, depending upon the case: 

• It's not that people with OCD LOVE keeping things neat and organized, but rather they need to. It becomes stressful for them not to go through with a behavior, only feeling calm and peaceful after completing so. 
• Cleanliness and being a 'germaphobe' are both ways, out of many, that OCD can manifest itself. However, what really defines OCD is a fear-driven anxiety. There is a compulsive behavior that gives way to anxious thoughts, and only going through with the behavior undoes the thought. For example: if I say goodbye to my family three times, they won't get into a car accident. It's out of fear-driven compulsion that one does this (so that the family does not get into a car accident). If one doesn't say goodbye three times, there will be an intrusive thought that something bad will happen to the family that will only go away when the behavior is complete.

From here, we discussed the portrayal of OCD/orthorexia in the media:

• Rain Man:
• He had autism, not OCD. 

• What about Bob?:
• He had Dependent-Personality Disorder, not OCD. 

• Snow White (Snow Whiter's obsession with cleanliness in the dwarves home):
• That's a bit of a stretch. It's more of her feministic character being a housecleaner for the dwarves than OCD. 

So where do all of these myths and misconceptions surround OCD and orthorexia come from? It's all of the misunderstanding and misinformation that is spread about them. But also, it's that these are very complicated disorders (within the realm of disorders, there is OCD versus OCPD versus orthorexia, which may be a part of OCD, but isn't an actual diagnosis). It get's confusing, you know? There are so many nuances that it's hard to understand and tease apart what is what. Even I was getting confused at times even just learning about this all. 

Anyways, I'm going to end this post a little differently, as it is my last weekly post about disorders. I just really want to genuinely thank everyone that made this project happen. From Dr. Anné for presenting me the opportunity for the internship, to the whole A New Beginning team for making their office feel like a second home and spending time with me on my project, to Mr. Chadwick for the idea behind the project, and to everyone who reads this blog and gives it purpose! I love each and every one of you!!!! This project would have been nothing had I not had such a wonderful audience reading my posts with silly gifs. Thank you for joining me through this momentous journey! Until next time....

Lots of love 💗,

--Saleena 

Sources:

* Facts about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://beyondocd.org/ocd-facts. 

**Orthorexia Nervosa (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2017, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/orthorexia-nervosa.

DID: A Psyche's Guide to Survival!

Hello, Beautiful World!

I hope everyone is doing well. Nothing very eventful happened this week (in fact, it's been quite stressful), so we'll get straight to the disorder of the week: DID (dissociative identity disorder)!

Here are some facts and statistics:*

• It is estimated to effect ~1% of the national population.
• DID is more common in those who have suffered from childhood trauma than the general population. 
• DID is most often caused by experiencing trauma before nine years of age (the earlier the trauma, the greater predicted degree of dissociation)
• Alternate personalities range from anywhere between eight and 13, with the most being 100!

What I found most interesting about these statistics was the amount of alternate personalities possible to exist in a given person with DID!

Before meeting with Dr. Anné, I conducted a survey and looked through everyday media relevant to DID. Starting off the meeting by asking her what misconceptions clients ​may have regarding DID, I learned that clients generally do not know what DID even means. It's a relatively new term, as DID used to go under the term of Multiple Personality Disorder. Hence, clients don't know what such a diagnosis implies, and if they do have somewhat of an understanding, they ask Does that mean there is more than one person inside of me? Basically, there is a misunderstanding of what that diagnosis is.

From here, Dr. Anné and I discussed more about DID using the survey questions as a basis:

Misconceptions:

• Myth: People with DID live highly abnormal lives. 
• Truth: Most of the time, they are functioning, capable people, although they do have struggles due to an abusive history that has not been resolved.  While "capable," they may use things like alcohol and/or substances to cope and/or have other issues that are a symptomatic of their underlying abuse.
• Myth: Treatment only makes DID worse because therapists further develop the existence of the different states. One with DID can never fully recover.
• Truth: Therapy does not make DID worse, but rather makes it better. Some of the goals for treatment in the past have been complete integration; but that doesn't have to be the case. It's about the awareness of the alters, and supporting the needs and functions of each personality. Oftentimes, it's a combination of some integration, but also awareness and support of the alters' needs. 
• Myth: Only people with DID dissociate.
• Truth: Other people can also dissociate, including those with PTSD. DID is simply the severest form of dissociation, but it can certainly take place in response to other things (such as a traumatic experience, trigger, or an association with a former traumatic experience)
• Myth: DID is the same thing as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
• Truth: Nope, they're all completely different! Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder; bipolar is a mood disorder; and DID is a trauma-based disorder.
• Myth: Individuals with DID can choose to get rid off, kill off, or immediately integrate their alters.
• Truth: The goal needs to be to understand the purpose and function of the different alters. You never want to (and can't really) eliminate any of the alters until you respond to the purpose and function of the alter. Everything is survival and compensatory based. It's a very complicated process that takes time. You need to heal, respond to, and understand the different pieces that have been created due to the trauma experienced. 

Some things that can be misconceptions or truths, depending on the case:

• Switching between personality states is obvious! Well, it may not be... it really depends on who is observing. The more familiar you are with the nuances of the different personality states, the better you can see it (although it can be very easy to miss if you aren't). The media exaggerates the personality states through wardrobe changes, conflicting mannerisms, etc., but in real life, it's not as easy to identify. 
• People with multiple personalities do not know about the other personalities. This comes from dissociative amnesia, one of the five primary symptoms of DID. It's true that many people live for years without any awareness of their alters; but, with diagnosis and treatment, they learn about the other states and cultivate internal communication. It's a gradual process, not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Within any diagnosis, there is going to be a strict criteria of symptoms; but the reality is that you are on the continuum within any category when it comes to DID. Sometimes people know, other times they don't (to sum up)!

Some things that are deemed to be myths, but are actually true:

• It's true that DID is lots of separate people with distinct personalities within one body.
• DID is rare, affecting only about 1% of the population. 

Since the media plays a huge role in how we perceive things, I also asked Dr. Anné how she felt regarding the portrayal of DID in Sybil, Fight Club, and The Lord of the Rings. 

• Sybil:
• They did a beautiful job! The book has since then been debunked, but the movie did a good job of showing what creates trauma and how it gets healed. 

• Fight Club:
• This was really intense! It was a very interesting, detailed portrayal (one of the extreme, super-classic examples of DID)!

• The Lord of the Rings (Gollum/Smeagol):
• Kinda and kinda not... In the movie, the alters talk to each other, which isn't typical, and they switch back and forth in the conversation. You typically won't be aware of the other person, or have a conversation like that. 

Where do these myths come from them? It doesn't have to do with it being a new term (as only the term is new to show a larger spectrum; the disorder has been around for a long time). When something is rare, scary, and appears to be extreme in a way that is hard to understand, there simply tends to be lots of misconceptions and judgment around it. 

I hope you guys like my Week 9 post! Thank you all for following me on this journey, and showing me so much support!

Lots of love 💗,

--Saleena 

Sources: 

*Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (September, 2016). Retrieved April 03, 2017, from http://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/dissociative-identity-disorder/dissociative-identity-disorder-did-statistics-and-facts/.