They might even get subtle body sensations, being aroused by another man. These obsessive thoughts are not rooted in homophobia, according to Brodsky. There are other issues in their lives preventing them from having loving, committed relationships. As for treatment, Brodsky said he would help a patient who was truly gay validate their feelings and attain self-acceptance, "achieving calm and peace of mind. These patients can be successfully treated in the same way other forms of OCD are treated, according to Brodsky.
Drescher said that medications are also highly effective, especially in tandem with behavioral therapy. Determining the cause of the obsession is "never black and white," according to Brodsky. There is a clear difference between OCD and a person who is really attracted to the same sex.
We'll notify you here with news about. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Comments 0. It is sort of like having only half of the Velcro. Also it is important to understand that compulsions are paradoxical — that is they bring about the opposite of what they are intended to accomplish. That is to help the sufferer to be free of anxiety and obsessive thoughts. What compulsions do accomplish is to cause the sufferer to become behaviorally addicted to performing them.
Even the little bit of relief they get is enough to get this dependency going. Compulsions only lead to more compulsions and avoidance only leads to more avoidance.
This is really only natural for people to do. It is instinctive to try to escape or avoid that which makes you anxious. Unfortunately, this is of no help in OCD. Another problem that arises from performing compulsions is that those who keep checking their own reactions to members of the opposite or same sex will inevitably create a paradox for themselves. When they are around members of their own sex they also become anxious, which leads to further stress and of course more doubts about themselves.
The flip side of this is when they look at things having to do with sex of an opposite orientation and then feel aroused in some way, which they then conclude to mean that they liked it, which means that they are gay or straight. This is the mistake I referred toarlier when I stated that people react sexually to sexual things. People like to ask if there are any new developments in OCD treatments. Aside from a few new medications since the last article, treatment remains essentially the same.
The particular form of behavioral therapy shown to be the most effective is known as Exposure and Response Prevention ERP. ERP encourages participants to expose themselves to their obsessions or to situations that will bring on the obsessions , while they prevent themselves from using compulsions to get rid of the resulting anxiety. The fearful thoughts or situations are approached in gradually increased amounts over a period of from several weeks to several months.
As you do so in slowly increasing amounts you develop a tolerance to the presence of the fear, and its effect is greatly lessened. By continually avoiding feared situations, and never really encountering them, you keep yourself sensitized. The result is that as you slowly build up your tolerance for whatever is fear provoking; it begins to take larger and larger doses of frightening thoughts or situations to bring on the same amount of anxiety.
When you have finally managed to tolerate the most difficult parts of your OCD they can no longer cause you to react with fear. It is important to note that the goal of ERP is not the elimination of obsessive thoughts but to learn to tolerate and accept all thoughts with little or no distress.
This reduced distress may in turn, as a byproduct, reduce the frequency of the obsessions. Complete elimination of intrusive thoughts may not be a realistic goal given the commonality of intrusive thoughts in humans in general.
Using this technique you work with a therapist to expose yourself to gradually increasing levels of anxiety-provoking situations and thoughts. You learn to tolerate the fearful situations without resorting to questioning checking or avoiding.
By allowing the anxiety to subside on its own, you slowly build up your tolerance to it, and it begins to take more and more to make you anxious.
Eventually as you work your way up the list to facing your worst fears there will be little about the subject that can set you off. You may still get the thoughts here and there, but you will no longer feel that you must react to them and you will be able to let them pass. There are many techniques for confronting sexual and other obsessions that we have developed over the years.
Listening to minute audio tapes or tape loops about the feared subject. Leaving cell phone voice-mail messages for yourself about the feared subject. Writing 2-page compositions about a particular obsession and then taping them in your own voice. Writing feared sentences repetitively.
Hanging signs in your room or house with feared statements. Wearing T-shirts with feared slogans. Visiting locations that will stimulate thoughts. Being around people who will stimulate thoughts. Agreeing with all feared thoughts and telling yourself they are true and represent your real desires. Reading books on the subject of your thoughts. Visiting websites that relate to your thoughts. Reading books by or about gay persons. Watching videos on gay themes or about gay characters.
Visiting gay meetings shops, browsing in gay bookstores, or visiting areas of town that are more predominantly gay. Wearing clothes in fit, color, or style that could possibly look effeminate for a man or masculine for a woman. Looking at pictures of good-looking people of your own sex and rating them on attractiveness. Reading magazines, such as Playboy, if you are a woman, or Playgirl, if you are a man. Standing close to members of your own sex.
Doing a series of writing assignments of a couple of pages each that suggest more and more that you actually are gay or wish to be. Making a series of three-minute tapes that based on the writings gradually suggest more and more that you are gay, and listening to them several times a day changing them when they no longer bother you. Not checking your reactions to attractive members of your own sex.
Not imagining yourself in sexual situations with same-sex individuals to check on your own reactions. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Jeanna Bryner is the editor-in-chief of Live Science. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science.
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