OCD and I'm SO TIRED!

I am guilty of using the phrase “I’M SO TIRED!” There are many reasons why people say this. It could be the symptom of a physical ailment or a food allergy. Perhaps it is the weather, lack of proper sleep- maybe you are overwhelmed by emotional issues that drain energy such as anxiety or anger over a no-win situation that you can’t see the way out of.

At some point, fatigue affects everyone. For some people, it is an occasional annoyance, but for others, it is a chronic affliction. People with OCD seem to feel tired a lot. The stress of the disorder just adds to general feelings of exhaustion and exacerbates them. I have spent many days just dragging myself through the undeniable urge to retreat into bed. I wonder how much money fatigue causes the work force to lose on a daily basis? It must be exorbitant.

I came across this interesting article by Catherine Pratt that may be of help to those who deal with fatigue often…

"I'm So Tired. What Your Brain Might Be Trying to Tell You.

by Catherine Pratt
www.Life-With-Confidence.com

"I'm so tired today"
How many times during the day do you hear people say this? Often just hearing someone say those four words will suddenly make you feel tired too even if you weren’t just a few minutes before. The thought of being so tired has now entered your mind. One way to prevent this it to just become aware of what’s influencing you. In this case, you could counteract it with the thought of “I feel full of energy today”.

Thoughts like the one above can influence how you feel but your brain may also be trying to tell you something. If you’re not listening, the mind may try to make you slow down or even stop what you’re doing by making you feel more and more tired. If you feel exhausted all the time, it makes it really tough to feel confident about yourself and to do the activities that increase your self esteem. It’s important to figure out why you’re feeling the way you do.

Here are some reasons why you might be feeling so tired:

• Are you bored?
If you’re bored with your job or your personal life, you’re going to feel tired. It's amazing how much your attitude towards life will affect how you feel.

 

Here’s an example, you come home from work and just collapse on the couch because you're so tired. You have no desire to move and don’t want to do anything. The phone rings. It’s your best friend and he’s just won backstage tickets to a band that you love. How do you feel now? Five minutes ago you were dead tired. Now that you’re getting the chance to do something exciting and new, you’re full of energy again. You don’t even think about being tired anymore. The difference is that you have something exciting and fun to look forwards to now.

Here’s an example, you come home from work and just collapse on the couch because you're so tired. You have no desire to move and don’t want to do anything. The phone rings. It’s your best friend and he’s just won backstage tickets to a band that you love. How do you feel now? Five minutes ago you were dead tired. Now that you’re getting the chance to do something exciting and new, you’re full of energy again. You don’t even think about being tired anymore. The difference is that you have something exciting and fun to look forwards to now.

So, take a good look at what’s happening in your life. Do you feel like you’re trapped doing the same thing every day with no hope for escape? I used to feel like my whole life was “get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, do a few chores, go to bed, repeat again tomorrow”. When I came home I would just be so tired. Once I realized what was happening and changed it, it was absolutely amazing how much energy I suddenly had. Life is way too short to spend it bored out of your mind. So, what’s happening in your life? Is it time to look for a new job? Do you need to try something new?

• Are you frustrated?
Just like the previous point, if you’re frustrated with what’s happening in your life or with the world in general, you can end up feeling tired all the time. Especially, if you’re at the point where you feel like you don’t have any options. You feel like you're a victim and that there's nothing you can do. The truth is that you always have options and different choices you can make. You just need to figure out what they are. Ask yourself, what are you feeling and why?

• Are there medical issues? (thyroid, etc.)
Sometimes there really could be a medical reason as to why you’re not functioning at full potential. Could be a good opportunity just to get checked out by your physician.

• Do you have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
SAD is estimated to affect 6 out of every 100 people in North America during the winter months. If you’re feeling constantly tired and are craving carbohydrates and sweet foods, you might have SAD which is caused by a lack of sunlight. You can read about my personal experience with SAD here: Why am I so tired?

• Are you eating well?
Sugar and caffeine can give us a temporary feeling of energy but you’ll find that you’re even more tired a few hours later. Plus, the next day you're also going to be tired from what you ate the day before. Check out my review of the Schwarzbein Principle. She really explains well the principles of proper nutrition and how what you eat may be affecting how you think and feel.

You may also simply be dehydrated, be sure to read "Another Reason For Feeling Tired - Dehydration". Or you may be deficient in certain nutrients like Vitamin D.

• Are you doing too much, staying up too late?
We all need some downtime but today’s society runs at full speed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it’s very easy to get caught up in it. Also, I know all the best tv shows seem to be on way past my bedtime. Burning yourself out from doing too much or not getting enough sleep is eventually going to catch up with you.

• Are you around negative people?
Negative people can be like black holes which just suck all your energy out of you because they're emotionally draining to be around. Be careful of allowing negative people to steal your energy. Here are 10 tips on "How To Deal With Negative People".

I'm So Tired Summary

Feeling tired is one of the most common complaints that physicians hear. It's also not an easy one to diagnose as it could be caused by so many different ailments. The suggestions above are just a few reasons of why you might be feeling so tired. The important thing is that if you are feeling tired all the time, take the time to listen and see if your mind and body are trying to tell you something. There could be a quick and easy fix to your situation and it could also end up changing your life."

OCD and Optimism

Do you know someone who is always happy?  No matter what, they see the sunny side of the street. You attempt to tell them something unpleasant in you life and they point out the blue sky- the silver lining. When you explain that a crisis is looming they say "What are you worried about-everything will be fine!" Haven't you been tempted to tell them to shut up already and face reality? Why can't they see that your situation sucks? It's annoying sometimes!

But, if you stop and think about it, wouldn't you rather be around a person like that instead of one who continuously preaches gloom and doom? These upbeat, hopeful people trust the big picture and overlook the obstacles and faults, trusting in the future.

What if you happen to be one of  the pessimists- the other side of the coin? The glass is definitely always half empty  and you always seem to find the fly in the ointment. You focus on the one small, minute thing that isn't perfect. People with OCD often fall onto this loop. It is a pitfall, as it can become a habitual way of life. It is a good thing to be conscious of this, as automatic negative thinking can become a mind-trap.

Looking for ways out of negative thinking, I came across this article, which is about a great book that I have read, The Power of Positive Thinking, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale





Optimism: Steps to Live a Better Life

"The Power of Positive Thinking" is re-released after 50 years. More than 50 years ago, a little book called The Power of Positive Thinking took the world by storm. Written by a minister, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the book was a remarkable mix of natural psychological insight and faith-based principles applied to everyday problems of living.

By Hara Estroff Marano, published on March 01, 2003 - last reviewed on June 23, 2009

'More than 50 years ago, a little book called The Power of Positive Thinking took the world by storm. Written by a minister, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the book was a remarkable mix of natural psychological insight and faith-based principles applied to everyday problems of living.
The publishers are re-releasing the book, and it crossed my desk the other day. I was astonished when I looked it over. There is a tremendous amount of wisdom in it.
I thought I'd pass along some of the best advice in the book, because it's worth using. It has a very timeless quality to it, and it does have the power to be highly motivating.
The most important principle is to believe in yourself. The secret, said Dr. Peale 50 years ago, and he might just as well have said it yesterday, is to "fill your mind with thoughts of faith, confidence and security. This will force out or expel all thoughts of doubt, all lack of confidence."

"Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy," Dr. Peale wisely observed. Here is how he suggested you build up your confidence...

1. Formulate and stamp indelibly on you mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. And hold this picture tenaciously. You can't ever permit it to fade. Over time your mind will develop this picture, brighten the detail. Never doubt the reality of the mental image, because doing so is dangerous. The mind also tries to complete what it pictures. So always picture "success" no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment.

2. Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal powers come into mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out.

3. Do not build up obstacles in your imagination. Minimize every so-called obstacle. Difficulties must be studied and efficiently dealt with to be eliminated, but they must be seen only for what they are. They must not be inflated by fear thoughts.

4. This might be the most astute piece of advice. Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as YOU can. Remember also that most people, despite their confident appearance and demeanor, are often as scared as you are and as doubtful of themselves.

5. Dr. Peale advised readers to repeat ten times a day -- starting this minute -- the following word from the bible. And while they refer to god, you could substitute your own belief system: "if God be for us, who can be against us?"

6. Gain self-knowledge. Learn the origin of your inferiority and self-doubts, which often begin in childhood. If necessary, get a competent counselor to help you understand why you do what you do.

7.Another affirmation, also from the bible, also to be repeated ten times daily, was advised as a powerful antidote to inferiority thoughts: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Again, you can alter the wording to suit; it's the thought that counts.

8. Another gem of wisdom: Make a true estimate of your own ability -- then raise it 10 percent. Do not become egotistical, but develop a wholesome self-respect. Believe in your own powers."

I hope this helps people be aware of what and how they think, and I hope we all become annoying optimists!

OCD & Programming Your Subconscious

OCD & 15 Famous Thinkers Who Couldn't Spell

Dyslexia is basically a learning disability that impairs an individual’s ability to interpret what they hear into how they write. It can affect one’s reading, spelling, and rapid visual-verbal responding. It is not an intellectual disability and has nothing to do with intelligence. Some people have a very mild form, like mixing up the letters b and d or failing to write symbols correctly, as in backwards question marks etc. Others with severe forms fail to achieve basic language skills, and cannot read or write without great difficulty. It is usually diagnosed in childhood and persists throughout life. It often goes undetected and misdiagnosed. It has been found to be hereditary. Dyslexia can co-exist with OCD, and can add to the general frustration and despair that OCD can cause.

I recently received an e-mail from Rosa  Ray, who works with  http://www/Onlinecollegecourses.com. Rosa sent me this very interesting article, "15 Famous thinkers Who Couldn’t Spell." It got me thinking that perhaps these extremely intelligent people, the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, John Keats, Alfred Mosher Butts – ironically the inventor of Scrabble, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austin, John F. Kennedy, may have had Dyslexia…

“Words can be tricky things, often spelled quite differently than how they sound, coming from foreign languages with different sets of rules, or being just plain weird. It's no wonder then that so many people struggle with spelling, even those who are generally regarded as having some seriously brilliant minds. No, it's not just grade-schoolers, college students, and the everyday man who struggles with the age old "i before e" dilemma, but also scientists, writers, and world leaders. Here, you'll find a list of great thinkers who made great strides in their respective fields, but never could quite conquer the perils of spelling.

15 Famous Thinkers Who Couldn’t Spell

January 24th, 2012 by Staff Writers

Words can be tricky things, often spelled quite differently than how they sound, coming from foreign languages with different sets of rules, or being just plain weird. It's no wonder then that so many people struggle with spelling, even those who are generally regarded as having some seriously brilliant minds. No, it's not just grade-schoolers, college students, and the everyday man who struggles with the age old "i before e" dilemma, but also scientists, writers, and world leaders. Here, you'll find a list of great thinkers who made great strides in their respective fields, but never could quite conquer the perils of spelling.

1                                                                                     Alfred Mosher Butts

                                                                                               

Unfamiliar with this name? Well, you're probably familiar with what he created, though it might surprise you to learn that Butts was a bad speller. He created the iconic and still quite popular game Scrabble, which requires one to be adept at spelling. The inventor himself was admittedly not the best speller, often scoring only 300 points on average in a game of Scrabble.

2                                                                                     

                                  William Faulkner

Faulkner wasn't a truly terrible speller, but if you take a look at his original manuscripts there are some definite errors the iconic Southern author wouldn't have wanted to see in print. Despite setting many of his famous books and short stories in the difficult to spell and pronounce Yoknapatawpha County, Faulkner's editors confirm that despite their repeated attempts to point out his mistakes, he made spelling errors all through his career.

3                                       F. Scott Fitzgerald

                                                                                                         

Few writers are so known for their bad spelling as Fitzgerald. How bad, you say? Fitzgerald wasn't even able to spell the name of one of his closest friends, Hemingway, often misaddressing him in correspondence and papers as "Earnest Hemminway." The editor of his collected letters called him a "lamentable speller" who struggled with words like "definite" and "criticism." Still, his poor spelling didn't seem to do the author any harm, and many of his works are regarded as literary masterpieces today.

                                                  Ernest Hemingway

                                                                                                         

Ernest Hemingway may not have had much room to judge when it came to his friend Fitzgerald not spelling his name correctly. Long before the days of spell check, Hemingway had to rely on newspaper and book editors to catch his mistakes, a job which they often complained would be a lot easier if he would make an effort to spell things correctly (though Hemingway retorted that that's what they were being paid to do).

                                                             John Keats

                                                                                                                          

The brilliant Keats died quite young at only 26, so one can hardly blame him for not spending time worrying about spelling in his written works. If readers want to get a taste of his more interesting spelling choices, they only need turn to his letters. They record many odd spelling choices, including the misspelling of purple as "purplue" in a letter to his love Fanny Brawne, a misspelling which she questioned and Keats tried to cover up by saying he was creating a new combination of purple and blue.

                                               Jane Austin

                                                                                                                   

Jane Austen may have a place among the literary elites today, but when it came to spelling and grammar she wasn't too handy with either. Research into her personal letters and manuscripts has exposed numerous errors in spelling and grammar that were corrected later by her early editor, William Gifford. One of her favorite misspellings? She often spelled "scissors" as "scissars."

                                                                                                     Fannie Flagg

                                                                                                                   

Actress and author Fannie Flagg has had great success in her literary career, most notably with the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe which was later adapted into a highly successful film. Yet writing never came easy to Flagg, who has dyslexia. She has said she was challenged as a writer because she was "severely dyslexic and couldn't spell, still can't spell. So I was discouraged from writing and embarrassed." Flagg obviously overcame her embarrassment, and has since written numerous books and screenplays.

                                                                                                           Albert Einstein        

                                                                                                                

Being bilingual, one could hardly blame Einstein for being a bad speller in English. Yet it wasn't just in English that Einstein struggled. He also was a pretty bad speller in his native German, and got even worse when he began using English more regularly. Of course, Einstein didn't make those same errors when it came to writing mathematical equations, a fact that helped to make his name synonymous with genius today.

                                                                                 Winston Churchill         

                                                                                                   

While today Churchill may be regarded as a great leader and speaker, he had a rough start in his schooling, always struggling with spelling and writing. He was a notoriously bad speller throughout his life, but he never let it hold him back. He battled through his difficulties, which also included a speech impediment, to leave his mark on the world.

1                                      Leonardo Da Vinci

                                        

Leonardo helped define the term "Renaissance man," excelling in both the arts and the sciences, but spelling may not have been his forte. He is quoted as having once said, "You should prefer a good scientist without literary abilities than a literate one without scientific skills." Some historians believe he may have been dyslexic (there is no way to prove that, of course) as his journals and writings are riddled with spelling errors common with dyslexics.

                                         Agatha Christie

                                                                                                     

Agatha Christie penned some of the bestselling books ever created, but the author admitted once, "I, myself, was always recognized … as the "slow one" in the family. It was quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without originality. I was … an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained so until this day." Despite her struggles with spelling, Christie was an enormously successful writer, and has gone down in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling novelist of all time.

                                        John F. Kennedy

                                        

JFK is a figure that has fascinated the American public for decades, but what many may not know is just how bad of a speller the famous president was. He was outed for his poor spelling by his wife, Jackie, though she was a French literature major in college and would later become a book editor, so she may have been a pretty harsh critic.

1                                         W.B. Yeats

                                            

Yeats is yet another famous author who, while quite adept at writing, was pretty terrible when it came to spelling. To see examples of his spelling errors, one need only find a copy of his collected letters which contain misspellings like "feal" for "feel" and "sleap" for "sleep". Despite his inadequacy when it came to spelling, Yeats was a prolific and very successful writer, winning a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

1                                          John Irving

                                         

John Irving is another author on this list whose poor spelling was the result of dyslexia. Sadly, Irving wasn't recognized as having dyslexia until much later in his life, stating, "The diagnosis of dyslexia wasn't available in the late fifties — bad spelling like mine was considered a psychological problem by the language therapist who evaluated my mysterious case. When the repeated courses of language therapy were judged to have had no discernible influence on me, I was turned over to the school psychiatrist." Irving's struggles with spelling affected him deeply, and he even reflects on them in one of his most famous novels, The World According to Garp, stating that English is such a mishmash of different languages that no one should ever feel stupid for being a bad speller.

                                    Benjamin Franklin     

                                                                                         

Ben Franklin wasn't a particularly good speller in his time, and actually felt that the alphabet as it stood (and still does today) was what was holding so many back from being able to spell. In a letter he once wrote, "You need not be concerned in writing to me about your bad spelling, for in my opinion as our alphabet now stands the bad spelling, or what is called so, is generally best, as conforming to the sound of the letters and of the words." Whether you struggle with spelling or not, you have to admit he has a point, as many words are spelled quite differently than they sound."

http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/01/24/15-famous-thinkers-who-couldnt-spell/

Searching around the Internet, I came across this article, which may help if you have Dyslexia and want to do something about it…

"Dyslexia, Bad Spelling and Intelligence

Posted by admin in dyslexia-assistive-technology

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

I remember once studying with a non-native American who came to the US as a teenager. Though his English accent was perfect, when speaking he had quite a lot of grammar errors. I remember that whenever he was unsure of his grammar, he used to apologize, and quietly explain that he was a non-native American. When I asked him how come he keeps on repeating the fact that he is a non-native American, he answered that he would rather people know that he is a non-native American, then have people think that he was an uneducated or unintelligent person, resulting in poor grammar.

I recently read in a blog a suggestion for people with dyslexia or dysgraphia to add to their email signature the fact that the email writer has dyslexia. This in order to explain why there are so many spelling mistakes in the email…

As a dyslexic and terrible speller, this got me thinking, WHAT IS PREFERABLE?

• For the mail recipient to potentially conclude that the email writer (“me”) is not very intelligent. FACT OF LIFE: Some people will conclude that a person with poor grammar, poor spelling, poor vocabulary (let’s remember that many times the written vocabulary of a dyslexic may be quite poor, because a person with dyslexia tries to write only the vocabulary that he has some confidence that he can spell correctly)… is simply not very educated or else not very intelligent.

• For the mail recipient to have the knowledge and understanding that the email writer is dyslexic. FACT OF LIFE: Some people, mainly those ignorant of what dyslexia is all about, may associate dyslexia to a severe disability that the writer is suffering from.

So what do you think is preferable?

For me, after sending thousands of horribly spelled emails in my life, I came to the conclusion that both options listed above are bad- a classic “lose-lose” scenario. A person with dyslexia must make the effort to spell correctly. Advanced writing assistive solutions, such as Ghotit, empower a person with dyslexia to produce correctly spelled text, removing from the table this whole “is it preferable to be tagged as a Dyslexic vs Unintelligent person” issue…"

http://www.ghotit.com/2010/09/dyslexia-bad-spelling/

To all those who have Dyslexia – take heart, there are now resources for you – and you are in very good company!