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The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

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Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#151

Post by tnorthcutt »

teucris wrote: post #132
phkahler wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's critical to find any intervention that works for a debilitating problem. If the hairdryer person lost their job because of it, they may not be able to continue ANY treatment and that might be the end of them. The first goals in DBT therapy are to stop behaviors that may interfere with therapy or kill the patient. Seems like a good approach to me. On a related note, I knew someone who had some very self-destructi…

No argument here. I just don’t think the other medical professionals are given a fair shake in the original quote.

She’d seen countless psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors, she’d done all sorts of therapy, she’d taken every medication in the book, and none of them had helped.

Sounds like everything else had been given a fair shake to me.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#152

Post by spaetzleesser »

teucris wrote: post #44

Having lived through OCD and come out the other side, I completely understand why the solution was considered bad. Sure, this solves the particular obsession. But the issue is that OCD is never satisfied. You develop rituals like this and they work for a while, giving your brain that little dopamine boost every time you look at the hairdryer in your car. But that dose diminishes over time, and soon taking the hairdry…

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It may not be the final solution but it improves the life of the person.

I would have more sympathy with the other doctors if they actually had a solution for OCD but they don’t. So somebody who has no fix for the problem is criticizing someone who fixes a part of the problem.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#153

Post by meowface »

cowboysauce wrote: post #144
meowface wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've suffered from symptoms of OCD on and off, and, personally, I totally believe this anecdote and think it's a great parable. I think the world is probably split into pro- and anti-hair dryerism, both among people who do and don't have OCD. >First, giving into compulsions just legitimizes them and reinforces the patterns that are central to OCD and can ultimately make things worse. Of course, but that's the whole c…

Despite my initial comment, I'm pro-hairdryer. If it works when nothing else does, then do it. I'm even pro-hairdryer in the sense that it could be used as a stop gap until the patient learns more effective ways to manage their OCD. I think what bothers me about is that Scott doesn't mention that there are legitimate drawbacks to the solution in the story. It's a nice "thinking outside of the box" story but to use it…

I didn't see it as a way to be smug or seem better. It seemed like his colleagues were split in half, as he said, and he happened to be on one side, and both sides felt like the other side was being ridiculous.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#154

Post by larsiusprime »

aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

I have a weirder version of this problem that's less debilitating but annoys people who live with me -- if I pass by a door I will automatically lock it with no memory of having done so, even seconds after. Like kleptomania but for locking doors. If I'm within five feet of a door it's as if a magic force emanates from my body to lock it as far as my own awareness is concerned.

One of my roommates in college was carrying in groceries, put his keys down on the counter, and went out to get a second load. I was reading a book, passed the door, locked it, and walked upstairs, completely oblivious, stranding my roommate outside.

They referred to this as "getting Lars'ed out" from then on.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#155

Post by anonymousDan »

willcipriano wrote: post #35

I had a weird tick as a kid where anytime someone said something to me I had to mentally adjust the length of the statement so the number of words was divisible by 5. So for example if you said "Are you going to school today?" I'd add "my good friend, Will" in my mind. It drove me nuts, but I was unable to stop. Then one day it just went away. Still have no idea what that was but it plagued most of my childhood. I re…

Wow, it's actually amazing to me that this is the first time you have articulated this to anyone - thanks for sharing!

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#156

Post by [deleted] »

robotresearcher wrote: post #138
aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

There's a very helpful method for being confident that you did something right, and while it may not be enough for people with compulsive disorders, it's great for many situations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling I think it works by recruiting more of your body & brain to the task of attending to something. Maybe the anxious could video themselves doing it, and watch it back later.

[deleted]

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#157

Post by swayvil »

If she suffered from an obsessive compulsion to review her case-notes in her head all waking hours, which made her into a better lawyer, we'd never even hear of this.

Other useful forms of this "insanity" may be seen in engineers, scientists, writers...

So UTILITY is definitely already the basis for any further judgment or antidote. We can say that.

So taking the hairdryer with you is already entirely appropriate.

An ideal of sanity is not our aim here. Never was. Never should be (unless that's your own personal thing).

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#158

Post by alliao »

DanHulton wrote: post #99
aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

Similarly, I used to get anxious about if I'd turned off the lights, locked the door, made sure the oven was off, etc at night. So now I count one number for each "thing" I do, and I know that I need to count up to 5 to "prove" I did it. Then, later in bed, I know I checked the front door because I know I counted to 5. You'd expect this would transfer to the "well, are you sure you counted", but I'm never actually an…

I do this counting thing subconsciously with the stuff I'm carrying from "scene" to "scene" of my life. And it show. If you suddenly throw me an extra thing to carry, I'll forget something I should've had with me. It's hilarious really for everyone else.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#159

Post by cperciva »

larsiusprime wrote: post #154
aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

I have a weirder version of this problem that's less debilitating but annoys people who live with me -- if I pass by a door I will automatically lock it with no memory of having done so, even seconds after. Like kleptomania but for locking doors. If I'm within five feet of a door it's as if a magic force emanates from my body to lock it as far as my own awareness is concerned. One of my roommates in college was carry…

My version of this is turning lights on. I enter a room and immediately turn the lights on, but I'm neither aware of turning them on nor aware of them being on, so I don't turn them off when I leave.

Drives my wife crazy.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#160

Post by Baeocystin »

larsiusprime wrote: post #154
aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

I have a weirder version of this problem that's less debilitating but annoys people who live with me -- if I pass by a door I will automatically lock it with no memory of having done so, even seconds after. Like kleptomania but for locking doors. If I'm within five feet of a door it's as if a magic force emanates from my body to lock it as far as my own awareness is concerned. One of my roommates in college was carry…

I had a family member who had the same drive, and after one too many times of me getting locked out while I'm bringing in things from the car, the New Rule™ was that if I'm actively using the door, it is stopped fully open, and the Habitual Locker is not allowed to touch it without coming outside to help carry things in, no exceptions.

It actually worked out quite well!

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