Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Knuckles70]

Hello everyone, 

I am very new to this.  I found this doing a Web search for help for my Dad.  My Dad has OCD and he is really struggling at the moment.   Which I suppose means that I am struggling to support him. I feel really lost and have no idea what to do. 

[Jynx]

That's amazing @Fyne! And welcome! Hope you find it to be a warm and welcoming community. You can find some tips & tricks here! And another lil tip: if you want other members to be notified that you've responded, you can tag them - use the @ symbol and a drop down will appear, and you can choose their name. If their name isn't there, you can type it out and it should then appear for you to select, then it will show up in blue. 

Hope you find what you're looking for here 😊

[Jynx]

Howdy @Knuckles70 welcome! I'm sorry to hear that things are rough for you and your dad. I'm glad you came across our lil community! We've got a factsheet about OCD (you might have seen already) that could be a helpful read. If you're up for it, you're welcome to share a bit more of your story, so we can get a better idea of ways we might be able to support you! 

[Knuckles70]

Thank you 😊

I am having a read of all the information. 

So a brief history on Dad.

Dad has had ocd checking since as long as I can remember. Mum was always helping him by checking all items that he was ruminating about.  Generally kettle   stove  lights. 

Mum passed away 4 years ago.  Dad has been doing OK up until he had a heavy fall 8 months ago. With my support he has seen his gp  on medication and has had a stay in acute psychiatric ward.  It hasn't helped and the Compulsions have actually gotten worse over the  months and he has added to his list of Compulsion. He is decided to put the family house on the market, which has escalated.  His compulsions and he's in a really bad way at the moment. To the point that he's in Desperate state and. Despair, I'm not sure what to do. I have seen some phone number here on the website?So I will.Give those numbers a ring tomorrow morning.

[Jynx]

Yeah wow @Knuckles70 it has obviously gotten pretty intense. I'm sorry about your mum, too. Been a really tough few years for your family.

Sounds like maybe some ongoing therapeutic support might be good for him? Acute care is helpful in a crisis but treating OCD usually means working with a therapist over time, usually utilising ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. 

Yepper we've got a support line you can buzz! They're available Mon-Fri, 10am-8pm, on 1800 187 263. There's also the Guided Service, which could be helpful for the both of you. And we've got some self-care tips and other resources to help you in looking after yourself whilst looking after your dad.

I'm off for tonight, thanks again for sharing and hopefully I'll catch you next time! 💜

[Knuckles70]

Thank you so much. Will tackle this issue.  

[CJR]

Hi guys. My 19 year old son has been diagnosed with drug induced psychosis, but deep down, I feel like he has an early onset of schizophrenia. My dad and uncle both committed suicide and I haven't had any info surrounding their mental health. I am not coping well with this, I find it hard not to take on his mental distress and it's causing problems with other family relationships. I have had my own battles with my mind for as long as I can remember. It breaks my heart to see him go through these episodes and in hindsight, a suicide attempt, and I wish it was me instead. The only difference is that I was petrified of hallucinogenic drugs due to the way it made me feel when I tried them... but he kept doing it and here we are. I would like to talk to others that have experience with pre-disposition and people that have accepted their diagnosis and have gone on to live life managing their schizophrenia. I feel like I am going mad as I knew something wasn't right but people kept brushing it off for years. Thanks for reading, I hope you've all had a calm weekend.