Hacker News Reader

Comment by Retric | Hacker News Reader

Would it help if you had a webcam pointed at the door so you could remotely verify it's closed and locked? Or do you need some the actual feeling of the door being closed to end the fixation?

View on HN

It may help in the moment, but any action that reinforces the (faulty) belief that your obsessive thoughts are relevant and worth paying attention to will worsen OCD over time.

The right approach is to teach yourself to be OK with the uncertainty of the door being locked or not. This is what behavioral therapy for OCD, specifically ERP, aims to do.

You hit the hail on the head with your latter idea. At least in my case, it all comes down to the "feel" of the door being locked and shut; I yank the door around pretty violently some days if I'm especially stressed. At some point, the compulsion was about the door being closed for the security of the apartment, but now it's been bastardized over the years into just being a fixation on the door itself.

Also, as jcranendonk pointed out in a separate reply to your comment, reinforcing the behavior does more harm than good in the long run. In my case, I've been able to reduce some of the mental strain by following CBT principles in a therapy session and also on my own; I can't comment on ERP personally, but I do know it's shown widespread promise in the literature. My previous therapist incorporated some of its techniques into our sessions as well, but was principally following CBT practice.

Really want to see an answer on this

I expect it would just move the goal posts, and you would end up staring at the screen to confirm the door is closed or checking the camera to ensure it is pointed at the correct door or some similar way of getting the 'hit' that the door checking gives you.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com