How to help a family member with OCD & Anxiety | Identifying OCD as the Common Enemy
Jul 07, 2021
How to Help a Family Member with OCD and Anxiety: Identifying OCD as the Common Enemy
Understanding the Common Enemy: OCD and Anxiety
When individuals are grappling with OCD and anxiety, it's easy for negativity to fester within family relationships. If one family member seeks reassurance continuously, and others tire of giving it, frustration builds on both sides. This often results in a skewed, negative perception of each other that can fracture family structures.
Therefore, identifying and recognizing OCD and anxiety as the root problems is paramount. These conditions are the behaviors causing frustration, not the individuals themselves. This realization paves the way for productive communication and a united front in battling these invisible enemies.
Distinguishing Between Behavior and Person
One crucial strategy is consistently distinguishing between the person and their behavior. For example, when a parent finds their child’s compulsive reassurance-seeking behavior annoying, it's vital to address the behavior rather than labeling the child as annoying. This imperative distinction helps prevent the child from feeling like they are the source of frustration.
Confronting the behavior explicitly allows everyone to focus on changeable aspects, fostering a healthier environment. Such an approach permits dialogue about frustrations without devolving into personal attacks, thus facilitating mutual understanding and problem solving.
The Power of Communicating Frustrations
Clear communication about specific behaviors is instrumental. For instance, parents can express how constant reassurance-seeking is distressing because it perpetuates the child’s compulsions. Likewise, a person with OCD can convey how their anxiety spikes when reassurance is denied. This clarity helps everyone understand each other's struggles and align their efforts toward overcoming OCD and anxiety.
Uniting Against the Common Enemy
The most deceptive trick OCD and anxiety play is turning family members against each other. Drawing from a "Game of Thrones" analogy, OCD is like a conniving character that pits sisters against one another. Recognizing OCD as an invisible enemy disrupting familial harmony can transform your interactions. Once everyone perceives OCD and anxiety as third parties causing distress, the family can rally together, side-by-side, striving for recovery.
