Physiological response to visual objects

[Covingtono]

I am a 43 year old female. On occassion, I will view an object that makes me sick, literally. To be more specific, these objects usually have a texture (eg. something with small holes, like the center of a sunflower, a strange looking fish or anything that "looks strange") and I believe that it is the visual perception of that "texture" that makes me sick. I have an episode of a recurring feeling that is most commonly identified as the "eebie jeebies", which means it makes my skin crawl. I then obsessively play the vision in my mind, continually experiencing that same awful feeling, rendering me pretty useless. These episodes can last as long as 2 weeks. I would like to know if you have ever heard of anything like this and if it is a psychological symptom. Also, is there any medication for something like this, to end the obsessive episode? I know 3 other people (all female) who have this same disorder.  I am desparate for some insight(no pun intended).

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I don't know the exact name for this, but it is a symptom of obsessiveness, and it is treatable. There are two ways to treat it. One way is through medication, and most of the the ssri antidepressants are used for this so ask your doctor re Paxil, Celexa, Prozac, Zoloft or Effexor.

The other way is through brief dynamic psychotherapy.  You will learn more about yourself that is useful that way, so try it. Find a good therapist in your community who can do that.

[StupidMe]

Those were