Best Of - Accept the Uncertainty

 Welcome back to Solo Saturday! Hey solos, what do you think of this new monthly feature? What do you think of the new vibe of the podcast? I'd love your feedback. Please connect with me through my website or email to ken@smartcleaningschool.com. In this month's edition of Solo Saturday, I will provide a sequel to the popular "Excellence Vs. Perfection".

Are you a perfectionist? Do you take way too long cleaning a single house? If so, please go back and learn the difference between excellence and perfection. It may set you free! In that episode, I touched on the mental illness of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I didn't address it much, but trust me. I know all about it. I am diagnosed with Tourette's and OCD. Most of my mom's family has some form of OCD, eating disorders, tics, etc. I have seen and experienced this and don't take it lightly. If you heard my first episode and still can't get over your perfectionism, I want you to listen to this one. 

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, psychiatrist, or mental illness professional. Nor do I guarantee that ERP will help your OCD.

I'm a regular guy that has dealt with this illness my whole life. And now, I have someone very close to me that is struggling with OCD. It breaks my heart to see the struggle.

I will keep the name anonymous, but this person could not control their OCD and suffered tremendously. They needed real help and it was found in the form of Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). This is a form of therapy that wasn't around for me in the 80's and 90's, but it has shown tremendous results in tic disorders and OCD patients without the need for medication. This individual didn't want meds. They wanted to solve the problem, not band-aid it. In ERP, the counselor and/or psychiatrist goes through a 20-week program to identify the sources of OCD, address each one, and replace the habit with something better. It's grueling, but life-changing and freeing for so many. I have learned a lot about ERP. It's fascinating. One thing that I learned is that the OCD patient has to accept the uncertainty. I learned this from an ERP counselor. She told me this. People with OCD struggle because the compulsions never seem to stop the obsessions. There is no closure, thus the cycle repeats over and over again. One of the first things they have to teach themselves is that it's okay to accept the uncertainty. As an example, I don't know is a full answer. It's uncertain, but final. A person with OCD will want I don't know to become a yes or no. They will obsess on something out of their control. However, when they train themselves that I don't know is a complete answer, they can move on. ERP teaches them how to do this. Once they get comfortable with uncertainty, they experience a reduction in their OCD. As I said, I'm no doctor. I'm just fascinated about this breakthrough therapy and wanted anyone listening to this episode to have hope.

Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website