[aarc0808]

My friend recently came down with some kind of mental issue.. 3 weeks ago, he saw someone bleeding really, really bad & it enters his mind several times and makes him feel sick.. other times right before he eats he will get the thoughts and feel sick.. he's losing weight because he's not eating, lost 18 pounds. So now whenever he sees something that really grosses him out.. he replays it in his mind and sometimes can't stop thinking about it & makes him nauseous. . Kind of like bad intrusive thoughts. The blood didn't traumatize him or anything, he's seen ppl bleed many times, he's an EMT. But now he gets really grossed out if I sneeze, or if he sees something nasty on the TV. The other day we were out at a store & someone had sweat and stains on their shirt, and it completely made him feel sick. The blood issue doesn't bother him anymore, as he's watched TV & seen blood since that incident.

What can he do? Is this an OCD mental illness or anxiety related? I didn't think gross thoughts could make people sick or not eat.

 

[IcedOver]

I'm no psychologist and I wouldn't presume to diagnose anyone but your friend's reaction sounds similar to a guy on an episode of "Intervention" who had OCD. He was a cop who was arresting a guy with AIDS. The guy went berserk and slammed himself through a plate glass door and got cut up real bad. I think some of the blood might have even gotten on the cop. Afterwards, the cop felt that he didn't clean the scene up right and the anxiety over the unclean situation ate at him over the years and developed into full-blown OCD mania. He got so bad that he often just sat in a chair in his room, unable to move around because he viewed his place as dirty with invisible filth. So your friend's case sounds similar but he should go to a psychologist and talk out what he's feeling before it gets worse.

 

[wxolue]

OCD and anxiety are much the same thing if i have my facts correct. but only that if you have OCD, you have anxiety if you dont perform the compulsions that you crave to do. However, having anxiety does not by any means mean you have OCD. this does sound like ocd though. OCD sufferers are often obsessed with germs and keeping things germ free

 

[Drella]

It doesn't sound like OCD to me. It could possibly be an acute stress reaction (but I would need more info on what you mean by "sick"). I don't know if it's acute stress disorder, but it seems like he may benefit from talking to a professional about what he's experiencing.

 

[Drella]

OCD and anxiety are much the same thing if i have my facts correct. but only that if you have OCD, you have anxiety if you dont perform the compulsions that you crave to do. However, having anxiety does not by any means mean you have OCD. this does sound like ocd though. OCD sufferers are often obsessed with germs and keeping things germ free

Well, OCD is an anxiety disorder, so it is highly related to other anxiety disorders, but they can be clearly differentiated from one another. Also, compulsions are not a prerequisite for OCD, despite common beliefs.

 

[wxolue]

Compulsions are not a prerequisite for OCD, despite common beliefs. Moreover, OCD is an anxiety disorder, itself.

although i never said compulsions are a prerequisite for OCD (i said not completing compulsions cause anxiety), i think ur right.

 

[aarc0808]

Well I told him about what you guys wrote and he stated that all the OCD thoughts didn't start coming until after he developed that fear of throwing up in public. So, of course when he's out in public, all of the OCD thoughts come and hence makes him sick so I understand that now. For the most part at home today, he was able to control the thoughts and block them out. He said the t-shirt just made him feel gross, and started the OCD thoughts. Stuff that never bothered him before is now making him feel sick & getting the OCD thoughts (people sneezing, messy eaters, etc).. how would he go about this head on? What would be the best course of treatment he could take?

Forgot to add, when he's in a public place such as Wal Mart, of course the fear of throwing up will kick in, and then the gross thoughts start (some nasty TV show he saw, or the blood he saw a few weeks ago). It seemed like seeing the blood kind of triggered a few weeks ago triggered it.

 

[metal8822]

Look into "Pure O" (pure obsessional OCD), also look into Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (not OCD, but OCPD, there is a difference).

this sounds like Pure O, to me