My Husband's OCD is coming back....

[Butterfly426]

My husband has finally gotten the nerve to tell me he has a problem.  This is how he explains it to me.. he says that he can't stand for his left arm , hand to be touched.  And if he touched something with his left hand he has to make sure he touches it with his right.  He says he has to do this because he will have bad luck and he will leave his good luck behind.  I know its very hard to explain.. he had the weirdest time trying to explain it to me.  The reason i say its coming back is because he said he used to have this problem when he was a kid and now all of the sudden it has come back.   I told him he needs to see a doctor but I think he is too embarassed and really don't know how to explain it.  I would love any suggestions on anything I can do to help him or maybe any suggestions on what has triggered this to start up again.  Thank you so much.

[Green_Movement]

I'm not a professional, just an ex-OCD patient. maybe you could try explaining to him how what he thinks is quite real to him while in reality there's no substance to his belief (left hand right hand stuff). and then point that it is common with a lot of ppl who have ocd, to "feel" and so believe in things that others don't do, while these feelings are derived from elsewhere (anxiety & ..)

best wishes from Iran.

[Butterfly426]

Yes he recently broke his hip, and had to be off work for over 3 months, we were both worried about our house note getting paid.  But now he's back to work and things are slowly getting back to normal.  I've tried to get him to see the doctor but he's embarassed, mainly I think because he doesn't know how to explain it.  But I've been trying to take his hand and hold it and kind of try to get him to do things with his hand, but he seems to get very disturb with me doing that almost as if he thinks I'm making fun of him. But that is not the case at all, I just thought maybe if he gets over that fear he'll be ok.  Do you think thats something I should do, or am I doing more harm than good?  Thank you so much.

[Ted A Grossbart, Ph.D.]

While it might pass as a "quirky superstition" it is indeed OCD.  You are right that he should get help, especially as it is now mild and likely very treatable.  Any mental health professional will recognize the problem but seek one out who is familiar with the treatment.

As to why it has come back now, that is usually a very useful question.  Can you or he think of anything that may have increased his stress level recently?

tg