About Jennifer Goodwin Expertise Can answer questions about OCD, especially obsessions. Will not confirm whether someone has OCD but can help someone cope with their obsessions and compulsions. I can answer questions on medications used for OCD but will not get into dosage information as I am not a medical doctor.
Experience Have had OCD for 28 years and have been through numerous therapies, such as CBT and participated in research as far as finding the genes responsible for OCD with the John Hopkins University group. Experience with various medications for OCD and depression. I work in a health community center and am very much in tune with mental health issues.
Education/Credentials Do not have a degree in psychology but I believe that a person's life experience can be a great contribution to other people living with the same problems. I have spent most of my life in pursuit of understanding OCD, depression and anxiety disorders and still am doing extensive research.
Expert: Jennifer Goodwin Date: 4/2/2008 Subject: ocd
Question hi jennifer,
i'm brandon,21 yrs old.i've been emotionally very sensitive
n a kind of negative thinker.i 'm highly attached to my younger brother.during the past years i've heard alot about people dying in accidents and being killed at a very young age.so i very often feel that what if something happens to my brother.waht if he meets with an accident and i lose him.foe eg. when he goes out in his car or on his bike then i fear about an accident,i know this is totally irrational but i always try to get these thoughts out of my mind but i'm not able to do so.these kind of thoughts trouble me alot.and sometimes these thoughts come in my dreams which really scares me alot.i know its totally irrational to say but sometimes i feel as if there is a supernatural power which is letting me think in this way or these are kind of intuitions.but i dont beleive in such things at all.i know this a mental problem.so plz suggest me some remedies to cope up with it.
regards
brandon
Answer Dear Brandon,
You have not mentioned if you have been diagnosed with OCD. I can't diagnose you as I am not a medical doctor but I can tell you how to cope with intrusive thoughts. Your thought seem to me to be more of worries than obsessions. Even worries can be repetitive and always linger around. There is a condition called generalized anxiety disorder, which, from what you are telling me, could very well be what you have. Since you mention only one thought, the same theme, losing your brother, it leads me to believe it is more of a worry than full fledge OCD. It has an obsessive nature to it as it comes back often. But worries are ''what if's''. And unfortunately, there is no certainty in anything. What you can do when you have a thoughtis to replace it with a rational thought like, ''I hope he has a good time'', or ''even if I worry, this can't guarantee his safety, so I might as well not worry''. If it does get to a point where it intereferes with your daily functioning, please get some help. Your brother needs you to be well...don't you think?
