Shinju

Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been informed that I GET TO GO TO HAWAII!!! Why? Because for some reason people like taking me places.

Professor Ironpussy there sounds like a real nazi.

Guilty. Once when I was little my brother and I were playing a little to rough and I accidentally . . . . how do I put this?? No, I did not knee him in the balls, every time I did that it would have been on purpose. You know, the underside of your togue, the part that connects your tongue to your mouth? Well I swatted him and one of my fingernails kidna ripped a bit of it out. Haha, he was really pissed. The next day we went to the dentist and our dentist asked him if he had gotten in a fight and I just sat on the other dentist chair all embarrassed. In all fairness, he was five years older than me and should not have been picking on me in the first place. Oh, and one time he tried to strangle me, so I guess we're even. Guilty/Not Guilty, of being caught masturbating to circus music?

Yes, I know I made the topic description sound overly fun, but it's not really. Do you or have you had an OCD? This is the thread to talk about your OCD. Explain, in detail what your OCD is about and the problems it causes/caused in your every day life. *~oOo~* Shinju's Imaginary interview about her OCD: Imaginary Interviewer: So, Shinju, I hear you have an OCD. Do you happen to know the name of your OCD? Shinju: Why, yes, yes I do. It's called trichotillomania. Imaginary Interviewer: Wtf? That sounds like a pretty long fucking name. What the hell does it mean??? Shinju: Well, the word trichotillomania (a.k.a: TTM, trich) is derived from the Greek words thrix, tillein and mania, which can be translated to "hair pulling madness." Imaginary Interviewer: Wtf??? Shinju: It's an obsessive compulsive disorder where you feel the need to pull all your hair out, strand by strand, by the roots, at all times of the day. Imaginary Interviewer: Wow, that sounds disgusting. Are you sure you didn't just make that up? Shinju: Yes, I'm sure, and it's not quite as rare as one might think. Scientists guesstimate that it affects about 1-3% of the population. Imaginary Interviewer: But you have such long, beautiful hair, wouldn't that be impossible if you pulled it all out? Shinju: Hahaha, thanks, I am currently in remission. Although last year I had a six month on and off relapse, I've been pull free since mid-January and before that I was pull free for six years. Imaginary Interviewer: In remission? Wouldn't that mean you no longer have it and are cured? Shinju: No, not at all. The urges never, ever go away. I feel the need to pull my hair out every day all the time and constantly find myself nearly going through the motions without realizing it, but stop myself with sheer, super-human willpower. In fact, I don't know how I actually function throughout the day constantly thinking about pulling my hair and fighting it off, but through the grace of God, I somehow make it by. Imaginary Interviewer: Erg . . . isn't there some kind of medicine you can take for that? Shinju: Doctors have prescribed antidepressants, but they don't really work too well in that department for me and I hear they have only a so-so success rate for treating trich in general. Imaginary Interviewer: Now you said earlier that obsessive hair pulling is not as rare as one might think? How can this be true when I've never heard of it before??? Do you know anyone else who pulls their hair? Shinju: Yes, over my lifetime I have met two other people, both female, who are/were hair pullers. It's not something you generally talk about you kind of really discover it by accident. Imaginary Interviewer: Why don't you see a bunch of bald people walking around then? Shinju: Some of us pull in places that can be easily covered up, or hidden to an extent, others wear hair covers or hats. In more serious cases, people have been known to wear wigs or get extensions and in that case it is really hard to tell. Some salons even specialize in treating trichotillomaniacs. Imaginary Interviewer: Have you ever had to wear a wig or get extensions? Shinju: No. Although at times, it has gotten to the point wear people have noticed, I've usually been able to hide it or wear a hat or something. Imaginary Interviewer: That sounds pretty non-serious. I guess when you pull it really doesn't affect your life much, does it? Shinju: Yes it does. There's been some points in my life where you could run your hand along the carpet and just pick up handfuls of my hair, which, by the way, gets stuck in the vacuum, which then needs to be fixed by pulling all the hair out of the vacuum, and the entire place will smell like vacuum cleaner and burnt hair for about an hour. Anyone I've lived with has kindly never said anything about hair related vacuum problems. Imaginary Interviewer: Wow, that sounds ridiculous. Why can't someone with trich just stop? Shinju: That's a very easy thing to say when you don't have an OCD. You see, scientists are discovering that OCDs are caused by insufficient levels of serotonin in the brain, a chemical which, among other things, helps regulate impulse control. It is particularly hard to treat trich because this particular OCD may also be due to decreased cerebellar volume. That's the part of your brain that is the closest to the back of your neck. Imaginary Interviewer: How old were you when you first started pulling? Shinju: Six. Imaginary Interviewer: Why did you start? Shinju: I was curious to see what my hair would look like if I pulled it out. Imaginary Interviewer: Why couldn't you stop? Shinju: I have no idea. Imaginary Interviewer: You said that the other two people you have met with this condition were female, are all trichs female? Shinju: No. I believe I read somewhere that the ratio for trichotillomania in male and female children was about 1:1, but the number of women to men get's higher as age increases. Imaginary Interviewer: When did you first know that you had a problem? Shinju: When my mother first started yelling at me for having bald patches. At first, she thought it was hair loss caused by anxiety caused by my brothers constantly and unceasingly making fun of me all the time every day. I'm not sure how the truth came out, but it did. I remember every time we visited my aunt, who is a hairdresser, she would point it out to all my female relatives and they would talk about their theories as to why I was bald, or later, why I would pull, like I wasn't even there. Imaginary Interviewer: How did you stop? Shinju: At first I had no idea. When I was 16 I was just able to stop. I later found out that around that time, my mother had been praying the Rosary every day for me to stop. Imaginary Interviewer: Do you think that had anything to do with your stopping? Shinju: Could be. Stranger things have happened to me, so I can buy that. Imaginary Interviewer: Why did you start again last year? Shinju: Hey, look, it was a very stressful time in my life, okay? Imaginary Interviewer: Do you want to talk about it? Shinju: Erm, another time perhaps . . . Imaginary Interviewer: Were you ever treated by a doctor for your trich? Shinju: Yes. When I was little my mom would take me to the family physician, who was a moron. He prescribed me anti-itch cream. Later, when I was about 14 or so, the doctors and therapists, who still had never heard of what I had nor ever treated anyone with it, figured it was an OCD and prescribed me anti-depressants. Imaginary Interviewer: If your doctors didn't know what the fuck you had, how did you discover that your condition had a name? Shinju: When I was seventeen, a year after I had stopped pulling, I saw a small blurb in Seventeen magazine about it. I was shocked to discover that the people working at Seventeen magazine could do better research than my doctors. Imaginary Interviewer: Well, in closing, do you have anything to say to others who might be suffering with OCDs? Shinju: Yes, stay strong and my hopes are with you! Peace out! *~oOo~*

I guess your right, that would depend on the definition of the Hebrew word used for murder. I never put much stock into the Bible, seeing as it flawed because it is written by man himself and not God or Jesus. It's basically a book about humans writing about their experiences with God, and seeing as humans are human and not infallible gods, their interpretations of such experiences are bound to contain grievous flaws, somewhat like how the news stations and papers always put a spin on what should otherwise just be unbiased information.

True. But one of the ten commandments that Christians are supposed to live by is "Thou shalt not kill," yet what of all the people killed in the name of Christianity? That, to me, shows that it's more something wrong with the people than the religion.

^^I thought they both came out around '96?

I don't count the religion as the culprit for all consuming religious wars, I count the people responsible. Kinda like the guns don't kill people, people kill people thing.

^^No shit??? Mine too!

Seeing as that is the funnest (yes, I know funnest isn't a word) end of the world scenario, I like to prepare for it every day in my head.

^^Wow, as a feminist she should know better about allowing and encouraging her students to have open minds. She sounds lazy, like she just doesn't want to put up with the class constantly bickering about their opinions about female rights. Although if most of the people in the class are like foeofthelance's "Miss Brazil," then I can almost not blame her. Almost. I feel it's one of those "if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen" deals. If you don't want to deal with people exploring their open minds, then you just shouldn't teach.

For me, religion is an intensely personal thing that people should not try to foist off on others unless they want to hear it. I believe it is a good thing, don't get me wrong, but it can be a very bad, very dangerous tool in the hands of the wicked or the delusional. I understand people who doubt the existence of the spiritual because they have never seen anything that cannot be explained. You're not going to change someones mind's by pounding your "facts" into them, why should they take your word for it? And quite frankly, that's the way it should be, with people thinking for themselves and finding their own way and their own answers to life's questions. I only believe what I do because of my life experiences. Had I not had such experiences, my outlook would be very different. Would I be wrong? No. Experience is what shapes our reality.

Yes, well unfortunately for liberals, the young and retarded like to side with us most of the time making everybody who is liberal seem retarded. Wait, strike that statement that's not very fair of me. I see many retarded conservatives out there too. I guess it would be more fair for me to say that there are a bunch of non-thinkers out there who make whatever they are fighting for look like a joke. What are some of your views that make you conservative?

Is this the idiocy I'm going to have to deal with when I start jr college in the fall??? Because I'm almost thinking being a retail working bum stoner for the rest of my life may have more appeal. Is it just that I'm older now? Would I have been so lame in such an argument had I started school right away and not taken a six year hiatus? I daresay this made some of them actually think. I believe that your class might be experiencing an inability to deal with intangible subjects such as human rights. You get people started talking about the intangible, such as God and religion, most will start spouting out illogical nonsense based on emotions. This is due to the fact that people can feel emotions, but cannot feel concepts. I guess you can just say that these people are just going off what they know. But you would think that having someone explain things to them logically would change their minds, but that seems not to be the case here. The fact that these people seemed to take up a majority of your class frightens me. I don't mean to get off track here, but I have to say, the satirical descriptions of your classmates amuses me. This would make a good anecdote if you ever wanted to write your memoirs or it could even be a scene in a clever novel. I've come to realize drawing on real experiences make the best scenes in novels because most of the time real life is too bazaar to make up.

Amen! :::Hides from rabid M,M&N fangirls:::

dick-ens era novel. You should make sure to wash behind your _______

^ is going to buy video editing programs for <'s computer < likes s'mores V will roast me a marshmallow

I am battling acid tummy due to having imbibed too much vodka last night

Soooo Guilty. I used to sneak into my brother's room, read their diaries and steal their cigarettes. G/NG: of making someone cry

wtf? That doesn't even make sense! You just wanted to stick the word "enjambments" on the last line to kill the thread, you big meanie <------ See, look, you made me cry. <------ And look at that, now you made me turn into a ninja! Nice going.

Just thought of another one. All the chicks from "Red Garden." I love it when chicks fight zombie creatures.

7177

What if the government saw this thread, tracked us all down and hung us for treason???

Potato isn't a color either

Dude, I love Alan Rickman. Ever since I was a kid and saw him in Sense and Sensibility. I remember back in the day when I heard he'd be playing Snape I was like "Alan Rickman + Snape = me swooning in the theatre" and I nearly did.