I am looking forward to my presentation next week at the Missouri Psychological association conference in Columbia, MO. This will be another opportunity for me to speak to a group of mental health professionals about how bullying can trigger a severe mental health disorder and how it can be devastating for a victim for many years.
As I prepare for my presentation, I am reminded of the following paragraph from my book “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder”:
“As I began the year in 2006, I felt I’d regained control of my life. In fact, there were many great days where I recall feeling almost 100 percent symptom free! While this peacefulness lasted for several months, I knew it wouldn’t stay forever. OCD tends to wax and wane in its nature, and can change over time like the weather. And I’ve noticed that after doing well for some time, my symptoms often slowly try to creep back. By now I have come to realize that this common pattern should not be unexpected. The simple truth is that one can naturally get spoiled and forget how to face their difficult fears after having a lot of good time. Therefore, the sudden reemergence of OCD symptoms can initially cause an individual doubts about the genuine progress they have made. “Oh my God, what did I do to bring this illness back into my life?! Where did I go wrong?! How can I handle these symptoms back in my life today?! Can I find my way through this stuff again?! Will it truly defeat me this time around?!”, are all common initial reactions to the reemergence of OCD. While this pattern may indeed continue, I now can choose and control how I handle my troubling symptoms. I can remind myself of the importance in choosing to welcome anxiety which presents itself as being unwelcome, and in deciding to face my OCD fears instead of trying to ritualize them away”.