# In desperate need of help, trying to decide who to see for help



## Mind3 (Dec 28, 2010)

Hello everyone, I have the a string of mental health problems, and get very bad anxiety attacks sometimes. My main problems are O.C.D (I will not name the exact OCD because I'm sure there are other OCD sufferers on this forum and don't want to trigger their brain to start a new OCD). 

Anyways, my OCD bothers me almost the entire day, it's almost like I have a second brain in my head, that is constantly bothering me, talking to me, and it's impossible to get rid of. My OCD started 2 years ago, and I didn't get treatment because I was scared, I have now decided that it is not something I want but need.

I am extremely anti-social, and hate most humans. So, you must see why it's hard for me to finally decide to seek treatment. 


Basically I am confused about which type of doctor to see; psychiatrist, or psychologist, and the gender of them, male or female.


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## senrab (Apr 23, 2006)

Mind3, I find it helpful to see a therapist (at least the psychologist or counselor) of the same sex. Some people don't mind and that's great, but I do and think it's extremely important to talk with someone who understands issues surrounding being a woman.

I think you could just start out seeing a psychologist, and they will probably refer you to a psychiatrist if they think medication is worth investigating. That's what happened to me.

As far as you "hating most humans", my problems with that are probably not as severe as yours, but I remember recently telling my psychologist how I genuinely dislike a lot of people and felt bad about that. She told me it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just that I was more selective about who to associate with. 

Good luck to you


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## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I have really bad OCD as well. It went undiagnosed for a very long time. During that time, I literally thought I was crazy for having these thoughts. It was a relief to get a diagnosis. But you must see somebody about your problems. Keeping everything inside of you will only make thinks worse. If you go to see a psychiatrist, chances are they will only prescribe medication. If you see a psychologist, they won't prescribe medication and will use talk therapy to help you out. I have seen many people over the years, and I am a guy, and I definitely feel much more comfortable talking to female professionals over male professionals.


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## SimplyAngelic (Dec 8, 2010)

I don't know about OCD but I have a very obsessive personality so when I'm getting obsessive I go into my mind and insert myself into a perfect world, it calms my nerves.


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## Mind3 (Dec 28, 2010)

ihl said:


> I have really bad OCD as well. It went undiagnosed for a very long time. During that time, I literally thought I was crazy for having these thoughts. It was a relief to get a diagnosis. But you must see somebody about your problems. Keeping everything inside of you will only make thinks worse. If you go to see a psychiatrist, chances are they will only prescribe medication. If you see a psychologist, they won't prescribe medication and will use talk therapy to help you out. I have seen many people over the years, and I am a guy, and I definitely feel much more comfortable talking to female professionals over male professionals.


so you say you've seen a lot of professionals, can you describe how your psychiatrist would give you solution vs psychologist,for your ocd?

and has your ocd gone away? ?


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## Mind3 (Dec 28, 2010)

wow i posted that in january and no one has replied to it?


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## jangle1 (Jan 11, 2011)

Mind3, I used to have VERY bad OCD. Basically I would have obsessions that lasted for months, even years. The obsessions would last every minute of the day or nearly every minute of the day.

For me, I went on prozac at a moderate dose. Within a month I felt my OCD symptoms begin to dissipate, then in the next 3 months it completely went away. I discontinued the prozac roughly a few months later, and I haven't gotten an obsession since.

You posted in the therapy thread, so I'm guessing you don't want to try an SSRI? I never tried CBT for my OCD so I wouldn't be able to advise in that category.


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