Do Not Let OCD Control Your Life

HealthyPlace Mental Health Newsletter

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Do Not Let OCD Control Your Life
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Stand Up for Mental Health
• Latest Mental Health News

Do Not Let OCD Control Your Life

Everyone has some amount of obsessive-compulsive behavior. For instance, maybe you brush your teeth a specific number of times or straighten your favorite picture on the wall. There are certain things in each person's life that need to be a certain way and when that does not happen, anxiety takes over. However, when the obsessions and compulsions start to take over your life, affect you negatively and interfere with day-to-day activities, it becomes OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

As you can imagine, it's not healthy when certain behaviors take control of your life. While the exact causes of OCD continue to be studied, we do know the effects of OCD can be extremely detrimental to one's physical, mental and emotional well-being. When personal health comes into play, positive coping skills must be created. It is often difficult to find coping skills that will replace repetitive behaviors, but it is crucial to work on finding those skills.

People who struggle with OCD must step back and try to see what parts of the mental illness can be changed or redirected. By taking the time to pick apart the behaviors that tend to control daily activities, redirection can become somewhat clearer. By working with a therapist or friend or through an OCD support group, other eyes will see the problematic behaviors and help you to stop them. No matter the situation, it is important to focus primarily on redirection and positivity.

Related Articles Dealing with OCD Overpowering Day-to-Day Life:

• OCD Obsessions and Compulsions Can Make Life Difficult
• Obsessive Thoughts and Intrusive Thoughts: Have I Lost My Mind?
• OCD Treatments

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: Do your obsessive-compulsive behaviors make it hard to get through the day? How do you deal with those frustrations? We invite you to participate by commenting and sharing your feelings, experiences and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page and on the HealthyPlace Google+ page.

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Share our Stories

At the top and bottom of all our stories, you'll find social share buttons for Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and other social sites. If you find a particular story, video, psychological test or other HealthyPlace feature helpful, there's a good chance others in need will too. Please share.

We also get many inquiries about our linking policy. If you have a website or blog, you can link to any page on the HealthyPlace website without asking us beforehand.

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. What is Panic Disorder?
2. Get Out of Your Head and Improve Self-Esteem
3. Mental Health Therapy Myths and Misconceptions

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Experiences

Share your thoughts/experiences with any mental health subject, or respond to other people's audio posts, by calling our toll-free number (1-888-883-8045).

You can listen to what other people are saying by clicking on the gray title bars inside the widgets located on the "Sharing Your Mental Health Experiences" homepage, the HealthyPlace homepage, and the HealthyPlace Support Network homepage.

If you have any questions, write us at: info AT healthyplace.com

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• What is Group Therapy? How It Works, Why It’s Useful (Mental Health Treatment Circle Blog)
• Depression and “How To Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide” and Living With Depression is a Full-Time Job (Coping with Depression Blog)
• Anxiety Doesn’t Care About Your Living Situation and Blow Anxiety Away on a Bubble (Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog)
• The Importance of Sleep in Bipolar Disorder (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
• Anatomy of a Mental Health Relapse (Recovering From Mental Illness Blog)
• How to Heal PTSD During Ongoing Trauma (Trauma! A PTSD Blog)
• Self-Esteem and Dealing with Disappointment (Building Self-Esteem Blog)
• Men and Mental Health Stigma (Surviving Mental Health Stigma Blog)
• Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous: It’s Not Us vs. Them (Mental Health for the Digital Generation Blog)
• Combat PTSD Symptoms – Hyperarousal (Being “Keyed Up”) (Understanding Combat PTSD)
• Being Nice and Ignoring Instincts Attracts Abusive Predators (Verbal Abuse and Relationships Blog)
• Self-Harm and Waking Up in a Rut (Speaking Out About Self-Injury Blog)
• Housing Options for Young Adults with Mental Illness (Mental Illness in the Family Blog)
• What I’ve Learned Since My Brother Died by Suicide (Your Mental Health Blog)
• Managing Concentration Problems With Anxiety Disorder (Treating Anxiety Blog)
• What Works When Disciplining a Child with Mental Illness (Life with Bob)
• The Price of Non-Existent Mental Illness Treatment (More Than Borderline Blog)
• I Had an Eating Disorder at 24 (Part 2) and A Support Network Is Vital to Eating Disorder Recovery (Surviving ED Blog)
• Stimulants and Adult ADHD: What You Need to Know and Adult ADHD and Career Choices (Living with Adult ADHD Blog)
• Jump Start Your Day – Seven Basics to Keep It Moving (Living A Blissful Life Blog)
• Alcohol, Drugs and Schizophrenia Recovery (Creative Schizophrenia Blog)

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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Stand Up for Mental Health

Thousands Have Joined the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign

But we still need you. Let others know there's no shame in having depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, trichotillomania, OCD, ADHD, schizophrenia or any other mental illness.

Join the Stand Up for Mental Health campaign. Put a button on your website or blog (buttons for family members, parents, mental health professionals and organizations too). We also have covers for Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

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Latest Mental Health News

These stories and more are featured on our mental health news page:

• Why Do We Stigmatize And Ignore Depression?
• Risk For Suicide Increased By Perfectionism
• Improved Mental Health Linked To Nature Group Walks
• Exercise Protects Against Depression - But How?
• What Are The Adult Health Consequences Of Childhood Bullying?
• Poor Sleep Quality Associated With Increased Suicide Risk In Older Adults
• How Memory Is Processed 'May Influence Risk Of PTSD'
• Our Desire For Payback Exemplifies Our Capacity For Abstract Thought

That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or digg) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week:

• circle HealthyPlace on Google+,
• follow HealthyPlace on Twitter
• follow HealthyPlace on Pinterest
• or become a fan of HealthyPlace on Facebook.

back to: HealthyPlace.com Mental-Health Newsletter Index