Shane Did What He Needed To Do.
When Shane started therapy six months ago for his OCD, he was a basket case. I was a basket case. None of us knew what to do, or how to help him.
He couldn’t finish his homework because he couldn’t read a text book. He was obsessed with the idea that he was doing something wrong. He worried about hurting other people, making them sick, breaking the law, and not knowing what laws he was breaking.
We got him a therapist who took our insurance. This turned out to be helpful – but not as helpful as we hoped.
Two months later, Shane was in worse condition than ever. He couldn’t function at night without “confessing” things he thought he’d done wrong. He couldn’t enjoy his summer because he was constantly worried about breaking laws and doing things that might hurt people.
Worst of all, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
We’d never heard of Responsibility OCD.
But when his therapist admitted that he was out of ideas, and suggested that Shane might need medication, we started looking for – almost accidentally – a new therapist.
We scoured the earth for someone who could listen to Shane, understand him, and prescribe medication. We ended up with a prescription that still sits on our shelf.
But by the beginning of September, we found someone who really understood Shane. And he understood OCD. He knew about Responsibility OCD – and he knew exactly how to treat it.
So he told Shane what to do to take care of himself – and Shane, being Shane, did what he needed to do.
After only two months with the new therapist, Shane “graduated.” The therapist said that Shane now knew how to tell the difference between his obsessions and his thoughts. And best of all, he was no longer stuck when he had an obsessive thought; he knew exactly what to do to move forward.
So Shane has been released from therapy and is moving forward, no longer stuck, and happy.
I am so proud of him, of his bravery, of his ability to tackle his issues head-on and succeed. And I feel so blessed to have found the right therapist for him so quickly.
But most of all, I am happy for Shane, because all I ever wanted is for him to be happy.