Here is my TEDx Talk! This was very personal, but I’m glad I did it, and hope in sharing my story with OCD, it will encourage others to share theirs as well. Please share!
All artwork for slides done by Andrea Britz 🙂
MyOCDdiary
OCD and how to get better
MyOCDdiary 
You gave such an excellent lecture. I am proud of you.
Thank you, Nicky! 🙂
Excuse me for noticing this, but I never realized how cute that you are until I saw his video 🙂 . But your lecture was very insightful and real and deep. And you shared a piece of your soul with everyone. It was profound, and your insights and experienced touched me. I feel so proud of you. And your journey and experience is an inspiration for us all.
Hi. I read some of your blog posts every now and then but I rarely comment on blogs. I think this video was very brave and one thing you said in particular really stood out for me: “It is when we suffer alone that we truly suffer.” Very true. I find that a lot of the time, people are so willing to help; it’s about letting them in to help you. Not always, but fortunately for me, that has often been my experience 🙂 For me, my Muslim faith teaches that God is always with us so we are never truly alone and that is something which really helps me when I’m going through a rough time, especially with OCD. Reaching out to other people helps so much too – as does reading blogs like yours 🙂 Thanks for this video 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I’m glad you reached out. It’s so great to hear from others and know that we are all working on this together.
Hi Julia! WOW!!!! Your absolutely AMAZING!!!!! THANK YOU SO SO VERY MUCH!!! I took a “google” to help me with my OCD. And your blog was the first one that popped up! It was meant to be that I stumbled on it! I just got done watching your video twice! I was diagnosed with OCD in fifth grade! Its been a very very long journey. Im 35 and its worse than ever! I cant wait to share my story and struggles with you! I will be following your blog! Thanks, Misty
Misty, I’m so glad you stumbled on my blog as well. Thank you for commenting. Stay strong 🙂
Good talk
Thank you for so openly sharing of your experience. And thank you for being here for us.
It means as much to me to have y’all here for me as well! We are a team 🙂
Julia –
Thank you for having the courage to go public with your story. Your description of OCD was eloquent, moving, and accurate… I’m sure many of us on here can relate (I know I could). You have also inspired me to revisit the naturopathic approach to mitigating the symptoms of this condition.
Also – just a thought…. since naturopathic treatment seems to have been so essential to your recovery (and since you are studying it professionally), I wonder if it might be helpful to devote a section of this site to describing specific supplements, foods, etc. which have been helpful for you. I know this may be murky territory since naturopaths work with individuals to target their specific needs, but it might spark useful discussion among other OCDers and encourage people to seek their own remedies.
Personally, I have grown weary of the knee-jerk mantra that “meds and CBT” are the “gold standard” in treatment for OCD. In my personal experience, CBT has limitations; meds mostly alleviate symptoms rather than address root causes, they do not work for everybody, and they are often not tolerated well.
Your own story is a testament to the fact that OCD has complex physiological roots which – perhaps – may be substantially alleviated through more holistic, biological interventions.
Thank you again for raising awareness and sharing your own experiences. : )
Richard, your last post was very insightful and eloquent. And you brought up some points that perhaps should he explored more.
Julia, we all are learning from your journey in life.
Richard, I do not know if this will help you, but in my case, I found that inositol, for whatever reason, cured the OCD that I had experienced. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. And I have found out that relatively low doses of inositol (about a gram and a half a day) eliminated my symptoms of OCD. I know that the research studies recommend twelve to eighteen grams of inositol a day to treat OCD, but higher doses of inositol seemed to put me on edge. So I adjusted to a lower dose, and I got lucky, for a lower dose of inosotol taken daily completely eliminated my OCD symptoms.
I am not recommending inositol to everyone to treat OCD per se, for what may work for one person may or may not work for another. I am just sharing what helped me overcome OCD. In Julias’ case, she took a different approach, and her approach worked for her. Different approaches work for different people, for we all have different physiologies and such. But, perhaps what works for some people may work for others. And it is good for those of us that have overcome our OCD to share with OCD suffers how we overcame our OCD.
Julia, you are wonderful.
Nicky – Thank you so much for your comments. I have considered trying inositol in the past, but you’ve definitely inspired me to give it a shot. : )
For others interested in trying it, here are a few links which I found helpful:
Fred Penzel on inositol:
http://www.wsps.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:inositol-and-ocd&catid=36:ocd-and-related-subjects-by-frederick-penzel-phd&Itemid=64
OCD Recovery Center info:
http://www.ocdrecoverycenters.com/about/prot_inositol.html
patient reviews:
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/drugs-treatments/rating/inositol-for-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd
Richard, I hope that it works for you. It sure worked for me. I only take about a half of a teaspoon of inositol powder a day. And my OCD symptoms are completely eliminated. Who would have thought eliminating OCD would have been so easy.
I would recommend to experiment with the dosages of inositol. Even though the clinical studies recommend high doses of inositol, low doses work very well for me.
I like the links that you provided. Good luck with trying inosotol for OCD.
With respect,
Nicky
Thank you 🙂 I appreciate that very much!
Hi Julia . I just wanted to tell you now brave you are for sharing your story . It truly is an inspiration. I’m 22 and have been suffering from OCD since 16 years old and finally found a naturopath and CBT to make my ocd more manageable . It has been a real struggle for me especially in the last few years, having this diseases make me feel abnormal and I feel like i “should ” be living a happy and normal life . But I will continue to keep the faith