The Dark Night of the Soul, Meditation & Mental illness

[Hojo]

On 16/04/2023 at 10:35 AM, Spiritedness said:

@Hojo What exactly do you mean by "think about it and cry about it"? What should I do exactly?

@Yimpa When you say 10+ years have pissed away do you want to say that basically your OCD hindered your 'spiritual progress', if you will, and that when you finally got it sorted out things got way better for you?

@Moksha I feel like this is the most reasonable option. Both can be done at the same time. Having a therapist who will be treating me for the disorders I have and at the same time guiding me on meditation. Not a bad idea!

@Ulax Never heard of IFS therapy and Somatic Experiencing Therapy, will check them out, thanks! As far as those two Young's techniques you mentioned, do you use them in conjunction with the Shikantaza practice?

Whatever you are fearing is the ego revealing itself to you when you feel fear you know you are looking in the right place so focus on what makes you scared and sit with it and be scared there is freedom from fear beyond fear

[Yimpa]

On 4/15/2023 at 7:23 PM, Inliytened1 said:

To calm your anxiety, I would look into some SSRIs and or benzos, that will open your mind and free you from anxiety, so that you can sit in actuality for long periods of time.   

Benzos are actually not recommended for people with OCD doing ERP therapy.

Exposure response prevention therapy is about facing your obsession/fear while also not performing a compulsion/ritual (which can come in the form of behaviors or thoughts). These compulsion/rituals are performed as a way to neutralize the obsession and anxiety, but it only works in the short-term. The OCD cycle not only continues, but gets worse the longer they go without getting proper treatment.

Using benzos while doing ERP is inadvisable because it essentially tricks your brain into thinking that the solution to overcoming OCD is to just take a benzo before facing any of your debilitating fears. This then becomes a dependency on benzos.

Here’s a great summary from NOCD:

“Some providers will prescribe benzodiazepines such as Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan or Valium. These medications are often popular because they quickly decrease anxiety when taken. However, it is this exact effect that makes them problematic for anyone doing ERP. In ERP, one needs to experience the natural highs and lows of their anxiety in order to properly habituate. Benzos prevent that process and also interfere in important brain processes like memory formation and memory consolidation, which are important to support the new learning taking place during ERP.”

[Spiritedness]

@Leo Gura Could you give me your input, if possible? It's a tough situation and your guidance would help me tons. Hopefully you have the time to have a look at it.

[eTorro]

On 4/19/2023 at 0:40 AM, Spiritedness said:

@Leo Gura Could you give me your input, if possible? It's a tough situation and your guidance would help me tons. Hopefully you have the time to have a look at it.

Could you, @Leo Gura?