Family intervention meeting guidelines for someone with severe OCD

[pelicans266]

I have an adult son with severe OCD. He's dysfunctional in many ways, has poor hygiene and a poor diet. He's reluctant to get help. We're considering a family intervention meeting, similar to the kind used for addiction. The goal would be to get him into treatment. Does anybody have any info on how effective an intervention meeting can be for OCD? And any guidelines (dos and don'ts) for conducting such a meeting? In my research, I haven't been able to find much on this for people with OCD. Thanks.

[3BirdLover]

If you don't get advice on this forum, you might want to actually contact iocdf.org directly and ask them. I'm sure you will find some good advice there.

[pelicans266 in reply to 3BirdLover]

I contacted iocdf and was surprised they didn't have much. They sent me several links that they said might be helpful. I only found one small paragraph in one article that had a few tips. But thanks very much for your reply.

[3BirdLover in reply to pelicans266]

So sorry to hear that. Maybe first contact an OCD therapist in your area and get some advice where to start. It's hard when the person doesn't seem to want to go for counselling. I've had OCD in one form or another all my life and know that the only way to really get better is through counselling and possible medications (I am doing both). Please do NOT settle for any therapist. Your son needs a therapist that is very well trained in OCD..... I spent many years in therapy that did me no good until I found an actual OCD person. On the iocdf.org page there is a link to find help in your area. If you put in your zip code it will help you find someone to help. They might have some good advice to help you take the first steps, or know how to approach the subject. Sometimes the stigma of 'needing mental help' is overwhelming, but OCD is a brain disorder, it is not a disease or something he can just will himself to get better. With good help, he CAN CAN CAN get well!!!!

The other thing is the IOCDF has great live webinar things on youtube and facebook. If you get the schedule, you and he can watch these LIVE (or later if you don't catch the live ones). They are sooooooooooooooooo helpful!!!! He will find he is not in this alone. The people on this forum are great people. We are all struggling with one type or another and here to help.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[pelicans266 in reply to 3BirdLover]

Thank you so much for all the great advice!

[3BirdLover in reply to pelicans266]

Even if you cannot get him to go right now, YOU might benefit from the OCD therapist just to be able to understand what is going on. They may be able to help you cope and how to approach him. 😒

[Englishgentleman]

1.) What are your sons rituals or compulsions that he does ?

2.) Why does he say he doesn’t want help is he aware he has ocd ? Has he been professional diagnosed or self diagnosed.

3.) You say he’s severe but most people with severe ocd are tormented daily by ongoing symptoms leading to traumatic life. so to not want to seek help for himself is something I’d like to no the reason for if possible ? If it’s because he thinks he can out think severe ocd it unfortunately won’t happen so if he’s in denial he needs to understand his real situation and a plan treatment needs to commence to aid recovery or quality of life .

[pelicans266 in reply to Englishgentleman]

Thank you, Englishgentleman, for your response and interest.

1. Regarding his rituals, what I've been able to observe is excessive hand washing. He puts on 11 pairs of gloves and peels off a layer when he feels he's gotten contaminated. That happens at the drop of a hat. Then he starts over. He goes through an incredible number of gloves each day. He also just seems to be adjusting and fiddling with his gloves, or doing nothing. As an example, it took him over an hour to move a box from point A to B, about 15 feet apart. Unfortunately, I don't know what's going on in his head. He says (repeatedly) he's not comfortable sharing his thoughts

2. He readily admits to severe OCD. He has not been professionally diagnosed. He says he knows he needs professional help and wants to get help, however he's afraid to go into a doctor's office or hospital because he's so afraid of contamination. He's trying to find an online therapist and doctor but he goes at a snails pace, and never seems to get there. There's always some excuse for not jumping in and making an appointment, even for online.

3. I agree with my son that it's severe. He has a poor diet and hygiene. He's starting to look like a homeless person. He can't work, can't open or mail letters, can't do much of anything except he does manage to make trips to the store for food and other supplies. Everything of his is covered with plastic. Nobody can touch it

May I ask what experience/expertise you have with OCD? Thank you again for your interest.

[Englishgentleman in reply to pelicans266]

My experience is 24 years living with ocd , mine started around the age of 15 I think and in July I’ll be 40 . My ocd is also based around hygiene & fear of contamination . I to wash my hands excessively and other things I call twitches . I have actually done the glove wearing idea myself to and I used to use my elbows to touch things with and became a master at using my feet as well ,Anything other than using my hands so I didn’t have to get stuck in a cycle of washing my hands sometimes 45 minutes at a time . I also have other issues but they are irrelevant regarding the ocd conversation .

My Advice to you/your son is two ideas to help the ball rolling to recovery.

1.) you can get a doctor to issue you a medication normally an ssri like fluoxetine will be given but get to Max dosage which was 60mg a day when I used it , it offers moderate relief not full cure ( well for me anyway) but any relief is better than none . Your son doesn’t need admission into a hospital ward and psychologists never helped me , I’d stick with trying to get the most effective medication which works best for him as there are a few to try from a doctor or psychiatrist. I assume your sons condition is rather new-ish so it’s an ongoing process to master his own condition.. plus most medication takes months to work upto full effectiveness.

2.) you could try a more natural approach and it could be more easily accessible to your son if he currently finds it to difficult to go to the doctors or hospital as you can get it online .You could try using cbd ( cannabidiol ) but at extremely high doses , the doses I’m talking about means you’d probably have to learn to make your own tincture oil from cbd isolate as buying pre mixed shop prices are to expensive for most and the amount I’m talking about . I currently use this method myself as prescribed medication can have unwanted side effects . Cbd can lead to sleepiness when you first use it and build up a tolerance to get to high doses and it Can NOT be used with ssri meds so you need to choose your option . Also cbd can interact with other prescription meds so always tell your pharmacist you take cbd if you ever pick up meds for anything else .

There’s a lot to the world of ocd , I can try give you hints and pointers if you like but I think everyone’s case is slightly different . If you need advice I’ll try my best .