Growing pains

OCD Diaries 12-27: Edge of a Relapse

by Bill Brenner December 27, 2009 Addiction

The author comes dangerously close to a relapse, but lives to fight another day. Mood music for this entry: “Accidents Can Happen,” by Sixx A.M.: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nan4Kdtz-9w&hl=en_US&fs=1&] It was bound to happen sooner or later. That moment where the addiction would come calling again. [Instead of retreading my history of addiction here, I’ll point you toward the entry that gets into it all: A Most Uncool Addiction.] I put down the flour and sugar — my…  [Read More]

Fear Factor

by Bill Brenner December 23, 2009 Children's issues

In this installment, the author describes years of living in a cell built by fear, how he broke free and why there’s no turning back. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt This morning I led a meeting of Over-eaters Anonymous, a task that included standing before a room of people for 30 minutes to tell my story of OCD, addiction and recovery. It was my third time…  [Read More]

OCD Has its Benefits

by Bill Brenner December 21, 2009 Mental disorders

I’ve joked to people before that having OCD isn’t all bad. One benefit is that it gives you extra drive to get things done. Most of the time that drive is spent on all the wrong things: checking the door eight times to make sure it’s locked, going bat-house crazy when something on your desk is knocked out of place (and I have a lot of stuff on my desk), and trying to make sense…  [Read More]

The Stormy Present

by Bill Brenner December 16, 2009 Adventures in writing

A week and a half into this blog, I have most of the backstory etched in. There’s a little more backstory to come, particularly on how Faith has played a central role in my recovery and about how the signs of my craziness were there in my early 20s. More humor is yet to come as well. Response to this blog has been tremendous, and I thank those who are taking time to comment. Until…  [Read More]

The Bad Pill Kept Me From The Good Pill

by Bill Brenner December 10, 2009 Addiction

In a previous post I mentioned that I take medication for OCD: Prozac. It’s been extremely helpful, but it took a long time for me to even consider trying it. Here’s why: Mood music: As a kid sick much of the time with Chron’s Disease, I was often put on the maximum dose of a drug called Prednisone. The side effects were so horrific that I forever after resisted the idea of taking medication until…  [Read More]

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