Recently I spoke to a friend about the checking behavior of a colleague. This friend was describing a lot of the checking or mild obsessive-compulsive disorder behavior that I have also been experiencing. But the colleague seems to have it a lot worse than me. It made me realize a couple of things. Firstly, the OCD checking behavior, although real, is certainly not logical, but the other thing is actually comforting. I realize now that I am not alone in experiencing this behavior.
Finding out that other people are experiencing the same or similar problems really helps me a lot. I am sure it helps you as well. It is always good to open up and speak to people that might be experiencing problems that you are speaking about. At the end of a zoom call with my friends, one person mentioned the hard times she was having with depression. I thought she was very brave for her to be so open, and then I thought that I should talk about some of the hard times I had been experiencing. It was a great load off my back. Then after me, another person also opened up.
This all just happened organically. At first, I wondered if this was the right place or the right time to talk about my problems? But I left that call feeling that I have a special bond with my friends, and it left me feeling that I will always have somebody to come back to, to talk about any tough problems that I have in my life.
We have all seen group therapy in movies and tv shows. With groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, etc. We always see a typical scenario of the new person who doesn’t want to share his or her problems, especially with people he or she doesn’t know. I think we all need to judge whether we are ready to share and that we are in a safe environment to share.
According to Irvin D. Yalom, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, there are 12 therapeutic factors that can be obtained through group therapy. I will mention three that I personally like. Altruism: This is all about helping others with their condition, and this in turn can help the giver as well as the receiver. Instillation of hope: Seeing the progress of others can help people to believe in themselves; they can believe that they can do it too. Catharsis: By sharing their experiences with others, people can experience a great emotional release.
Whether it is in a group therapy situation or someone you can trust. It is amazing how we can heal by sharing our experiences.
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