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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Ann makes a clear distinction between everyday habits and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
"We can define a habit as a repeated automatic response to a specific situation. It's something we do regularly and that we find difficult to give up.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) also involves habitual behaviour but may involve obsessive thoughts that are compounded by disturbing thoughts and images.
OCD is found in only two to three per cent of the population and usually starts in early adulthood. Commonly, recurring thoughts or impulses create extreme levels of anxiety and stress.’’
"It’s important to distinguish between the habit of checking a few times that your front door is locked - and behaviour that reaches such debilitating extremes that it is impossible to work and maintain a normal lifestyle. Because of its compulsive aspect, OCD requires professional intervention.’’
BREAKING THE HABIT
Hands up who’s got an annoying habit? Some people bite their nails – my friends would probably say I fidget too much and I’m always playing with my hair.
Reiki Master and transformational counsellor Ann Gadd believes that releasing ourselves from our annoying habits allows us to live more satisfying lives, beacuse the only reason we have these little foibles is as a stress release.
Ann, who lives in South Africa, explains:
“We create expectations from our own life experiences. When these expectations are not met, we become disappointed and this creates stress, which we relieve by performing certain habits.
“As an alternative practitioner, I see every day how the subtle non-physical aspects of ourselves affect our physical bodies. After many years of treating clients, I am still amazed by how the relationship between the physical and the non-physical, and how understanding the true nature of our behaviour, can bring about significant positive change and empowerment. The need to indulge in our physical habits is removed if we work towards removing the thoughts and emotions.’’
A - Z Guide
Ann’s latest book The A-Z Guide To Common Habits tries to explain why we do the things we do – from drawing the same image when we doodle, to checking more than once whether the back door is locked (guilty) and even what our sleeping positions mean.
Covering 300 everyday habits - from chewing gum to being a workaholic, the book helps explain why people behave the way they do, and helps them to move away from negative or destructive habits.
With each habit, Ann identifies the emotional circumstances or patterns of thinking which trigger our stress, and provides a positive affirmation to help eradicate these negative thoughts.
Affirmations
“The purpose of affirmations is to re-programme the subconscious. The more you can bypass the conscious mind, the more effective the reprogramming of the subconscious will be. This is why it’s best to repeat the phrase often, to the point of it becoming a sort of mantra. You can even make a tape of the repeated affirmation and play it to yourself while sleeping.’’
Offering valuable insights, ‘The A-Z Guide to Common Habits’ is a manual for professional psychologists, alternative practitioners, anyone with a bad habit, and parents of children with odd habits. It can also be used as a reference guide for evaluating other people...so all of you people watchers can now find out why that annoying work colleague picks his nose compulsively - or why the woman next to you on the bus fidgets nervously for the entire journey...I wonder if there is a separate section for 'compulsive people watchers?'
According to the book, my hair twiddling means, "intense frustration. Not feeling others are listening or accepting your ideas. Not wanting to connect with higher guidance. The desire to please others"
The affirmation to help me deal with it, is: "I live in peace. I communicate with integrity and truth. I am in constant connection with my higher self and live my life according to this guidance. I approve of myself as I am.."
