Book: Students with OCD
Empowered to better recognize, understand and work with OCD, parents, school personnel, and health professionals become the critical link between obsessive-compulsive disorder and education – allowing bright and promising students to realize their full potential.
Click here to order at Amazon.com.
Dr. Adams holds a master’s degree in Special Education and a doctorate in Educational Psychology. She has worked extensively in the area of childhood OCD and speaks about the impact of OCD on children and adolescents in the school setting, as well as the role of school personnel in an OCD intervention. Currently, Dr. Adams has an adjunct position as Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Dr. Adams enables her audiences to learn in a simple, constructive way what OCD is and how educators, health care workers, students, and the general public can gain practical understanding of OCD and related disorders. She has published several articles on OCD and related disorders including her booklet: School Personnel: A Critical Link in the Indentification and Treatment and Management of OCD .
LIKE our FB Page
OCD Always Lies
Well, does OCD always lie? It’s safe enough to say that OCD always lies because the percentage of truth within an OCD thought is so low.
I asked a well-known OCD therapist and director of The OCD Treatment Centre in England this exact question: “Can I say to myself and to others whom I help that OCD always lies?”
She replied, “Absolutely, because the outrageous thoughts just don’t hold up to reality enough.”
Is there any amount of truth to an OCD thought? I have to say, in some cases, yes. But there is also some truth in the thought that a meteor the exact size of your house will land on your house tonight. Get my drift?
In my experience, I need to acknowledge and accept that there may be some truth to some OCD thoughts and that accep- tance is part of recovery too. But it’s so minuscule that I can hold onto the anchor that OCD always lies. You can too. JC 💙
God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and, the wisdom to know the difference.
The Serenity Prayer is something I have used for over 35+ years to calm myself down. I'm not a very religious person but I do believe in some kind of higher power - whatever you might call it is up to you. But, if you have trouble with the "G" word, I suggest you replace it with your name. And, replace the word "me" with "yourself". It would read like this for me:
Jim, grant yourself the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Hey, still just as powerful. JC 💙🤟
The onset of OCD came into my life at age 29. I am now 69 and recovery has come very far. But, still working on it daily. In the beginning I thought of OCD as robbing me of two things: trust and spirit. Now, when I use the word spirit I mean it in terms of being a spirited person, a funny, energetic human being. In my mind OCD seemingly damaged that aspect of me. I was obsessing on very bizarre things because OCD always attacks what you care about or your morals,but it always lies. And, I had horrible germ phobias and hand washing compulsions. But, most of all I was anxious ,scared and nothing was fun or funny. My spirit was almost gone. So how did I drag myself out of this pit? One day at a time and with plenty of help. All that help included words that came in the form of inspiration or getting back in-spirit. This is why I post in-spir-a-tional posts. I believe we are all seeking to reclaim our spirits again and in-turn that builds trust - and recovery happens. Make sense? JC 💙