Post by alex on Jul 23, 2013 19:46:17 GMT
This thread was post by Sheila in IAWP and I find it extremely important, because it is one of the most distressing symptoms, at least for me.
For some people in w/d, including me, one of the most harrowing symptoms
is the appearance of one or two major obsessions which stay with us
throughout the course of our recovery. This is above and beyond the
many, small obsessions that plague us.
The magnetizing obsession is definitely driven by the neurological
problems resulting from psych med use and w/d, but *what* it focuses on
has to do with *your* life experience.
The major, relentless obsession may become focused on something that
happened in the past (eg something you feel guilty or bitter over);
something happening in the present (eg worry about another specific w/d
symptom or ongoing life circumstance), or something that could happen in
the future (eg something bad that could happen to you).
In early w/d, the magnetizing obsession is pretty immovable. It
seems like The Truth, and we live in terror, rage, or depression about
it.
As you move forward with your healing it becomes possible to work
with the magnetizing obsession somewhat – either to take steps to
mitigate the issue or to question its validity. Occasionally, we may
even have windows of being free of it. But, it keeps coming back and
we keep having to wrestle with it again.
Later in your recovery, if you are interested, you can analyze your
magnetizing obsession for its symbolic meaning, and you may learn that,
among other things, it symbolizes some unhealed issues from your life
prior to w/d. I have found this very helpful, but it’s not really
doable until you get to a certain point in your healing.
Eventually, after a long time, and as the magnetizing obsession started
to break up, it became clear to me that flare ups of the obsession were
always, always, always accompanied by a flare up of feeling bad about
myself. So, that’s in interesting thing to look for and then chip away
at and heal.
Finally, the magnetizing obsession fades away. We wonder how we
could have believed and felt the way we did. The issue either disappears
or we think *very* differently about it – possibly even the *reverse*
of what we had thought during w/d.
But, for a long time, for many of us, the magnetizing obsession is entrancing,
irresistible, compelling, inescapable, imperative, unavoidable,
unconquerable, beguiling, entrapping, and deceiving.
For some people in w/d, including me, one of the most harrowing symptoms
is the appearance of one or two major obsessions which stay with us
throughout the course of our recovery. This is above and beyond the
many, small obsessions that plague us.
The magnetizing obsession is definitely driven by the neurological
problems resulting from psych med use and w/d, but *what* it focuses on
has to do with *your* life experience.
The major, relentless obsession may become focused on something that
happened in the past (eg something you feel guilty or bitter over);
something happening in the present (eg worry about another specific w/d
symptom or ongoing life circumstance), or something that could happen in
the future (eg something bad that could happen to you).
In early w/d, the magnetizing obsession is pretty immovable. It
seems like The Truth, and we live in terror, rage, or depression about
it.
As you move forward with your healing it becomes possible to work
with the magnetizing obsession somewhat – either to take steps to
mitigate the issue or to question its validity. Occasionally, we may
even have windows of being free of it. But, it keeps coming back and
we keep having to wrestle with it again.
Later in your recovery, if you are interested, you can analyze your
magnetizing obsession for its symbolic meaning, and you may learn that,
among other things, it symbolizes some unhealed issues from your life
prior to w/d. I have found this very helpful, but it’s not really
doable until you get to a certain point in your healing.
Eventually, after a long time, and as the magnetizing obsession started
to break up, it became clear to me that flare ups of the obsession were
always, always, always accompanied by a flare up of feeling bad about
myself. So, that’s in interesting thing to look for and then chip away
at and heal.
Finally, the magnetizing obsession fades away. We wonder how we
could have believed and felt the way we did. The issue either disappears
or we think *very* differently about it – possibly even the *reverse*
of what we had thought during w/d.
But, for a long time, for many of us, the magnetizing obsession is entrancing,
irresistible, compelling, inescapable, imperative, unavoidable,
unconquerable, beguiling, entrapping, and deceiving.