Seth412

Thank you! You've been awesome. But yea, obsessing about work is one of the things I can imagine happening, like if a patient's condition goes rapidly downhill, and things end unfavorably, I could see myself obsessing tremendously after the fact. I'm on 20mg, which in the past has been so effective that at times I forgot I had OCD. It's time to find another one. I won't let it get in the way. I'll take care of it, one way or another.

Yes I believe my medication has "pooped out." It happens with SSRIs pretty much inevitably. I'll speak to my doctor asap. Thank you paramedicmike. I believe I have been a bit vague. I'll try to describe to you my symptoms as best and in depth as possible. I have what is called "pure O" OCD, or purely obsessional. My compulsions present themselves as obsessions. I find something to worry about, whether it's my weight, how messy my room is, school, work, health, anything really, and I'll find something wrong. Then I obsess about said thing for the better part of the entire day. I constantly reassure myself that everything is fine, only to find it creep back into my head again. So it's like a never ending mental quest to cope with my constant worrying. If and when I do find total assurance, I immediately jump to something else and begin the whole process all over again. It literally is never ending in the absence of medicinal intervention. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it. As I mentioned above, I believe that the meds I'm on have lost their effectiveness. I've been on Lexapro about 5 years, and lately it just isn't the miracle drug it once was. I'm going to talk to my doc. My EMT class starts in 2 months, so I have some time. Thank you for the advice. I've taken this class before and I know a bit about EMS. It's something that really gets me amped. I'm very devoted to this idea, and I want to be in the best mental state that I can for it.

I take medication. I used to do therapy as well but haven't done that in awhile. It's something I'll look into again for sure, if I can afford it. But it manifests itself as a near constant worry about something. When I stop worrying about one thing, I immediately jump to another. I have to keep reassuring myself over and over again. And as far as it being an occupational issue, I don't really see it being that way. My biggest concern is the accumulated stress of EMS mixing in with my anxiety/OCD. I'm worrying about it as we speak.

So I am one of those lucky EMT students who won the genetic lottery and gained anxiety before I even stepped foot in a classroom. I suffer from OCD and at least one more general anxiety disorder. While EMS is my dream and has been for some time, my anxiety naturally has me second guessing my decision to persue this as a career. Let me be clear on this: I'm not the guy that will have a panic attack mid call and be unable to do his job. That's not how my disorder works. For me it's more like silly worries about insignificant things that I blow way out of proportion and spend insane amounts of time thinking about. It can be rational or irrational, and it's hard for me to tell the two apart. Medication has been tremendously helpful, but it can only take me so far. I understand the EMS carries with it significant stress. I'm just worried about the impact that this accumulated stress will have on me. Can anyone relate? Please tell me someone can.