Essentials: Compulsive Behaviors & Deep Brain Stimulation | Dr. Casey Halpern

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I clicked into this immediately with no thought

I never got to meet my neurosurgeon... I woke up a month after my brain injury, and I assume they were very busy... I tried to find him to thank him, but no luck. What a profession.

Could it be that OCD is a coping method to an underlying heavy stress response derived from Trauma? That in essence, obsessive compulsive behaviour is an attempt to soothe existential anxiety? I suffer from it, and came to a burnout. I can recognise that my obsession starts the moment my nervous system becomes agitated.

Applying these dopamine protocols to minimalist visual storytelling is a game-changer. It’s wild how a simple high-contrast shift can trigger a 3-second biological hook before the conscious mind even kicks in. Great breakdown, Andrew

It seems to me that the most dangerous thing in this situation is that compulsive behavior is still confused with moral weakness, even though in reality it increasingly looks like a malfunction in the impulse-control system itself.

I’ve subscribed to your channel for a long time and never knew why. 😄 And here we are. My 21-year-old son was diagnosed with OCD in February and it’s been a few very rough months. I didn’t understand the sort of mental torture people with this disorder go through. The Dr. mentioned his “obsession” with safety and his “compulsive” pre op procedures. Really this is just being aware and doing your job. He doesn’t think about it all day in a loop, he doesn’t think about it all night, etc. The looping thoughts are what my son first called me about in the middle of the night in February. An example was that he had watched a movie and didn’t like the ending- he described rethinking the ending over and over and over with no relief from the thought. The only way to get that thought to stop was to grab on to another one. It tortured him. Another issue for him is the focus on the disease itself. He obsesses over the thought that he’ll never be the same, that he’s crazy. He feels shame and disappointment and frustration. I’m watching him be tortured by his mind. He’s taking an ssri and doing EBT therapy. But it’s a huge struggle- so much more than being overly neat. (He’s far from that.) So I found this fascinating and will pass it onto his father who thinks this is strictly behavioral and that he should just be able to control it. Thanks for this!

I’ve been struggling with binge eating and sometimes bulimia and it honestly feels like a compulsion. I lose control in the moment and feel regret afterward. I’m trying to heal from it.

Compulsive behavior and OCD have wrecked my life.

Why is that all the issues I am facing he has a video on that . Really cool