would this work?

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, I have a sister who has been suffering from 4S since the age of 13 (she is now 30). We have both experienced OCD as children and young adults and although both of us seem to have resolved or handled the OCD, my sister also developed 4S and it has taken over her life. I know that there is no cure yet but my Obsessive Cumplulsive side makes me rack my mind over this problem to try to come up with ideas on what could work......

I was thinking..... and many if not all of you probably will say that it is crazy and will not work. What about extreme exposure to desensitize? But I mean really EXTREME. You know how doctors don't even wince at the sight of blood, or funeral home owners at death, people that live by airports or train stations don't even hear the trains/plains, smokers don't smell cigarette smoke. I know it's not the same but what would happen if you were exposed to one of these sounds consistently and without stopping for an extended amount of time..... the brain needs to produce chemicals/hormones/neural transmitters in order to maintain a level of anger/flight-fight response. What if the consistent (long time without rest) exposure would literally "exhaust" the brain/limbic system to the point that it just stops reacting. The brain has built in mechanisms to block out sensory stimulation when there is an overload it cannot

handle. Just like the body builds a callus on feet or hands when there is excess friction in a certain part of the body. Or....just like when you loose a person to death and you become numb after the inital shock. Because most people mask and flee from the sounds there is not enough stimulation to get to this "overload" point and instead what may happen is that the brain becomes more resistent and this is not good (the brain handles more and more without going into emergency block mode). Maybe it's like taking antibiotics but not finishing the dose, the bacteria become resistent. Maybe the key is finishing the dose, giving the brain a serious overload, without intermission is the key, until it says "I've had enough, this person is not going to mask or flee from this stimulus so let me find another way...."

I am not an expert and know that there is no easy fix. This is just something that I was wondering about.

I pray and I am hopefull that there will be a cure found soon. I see how my sister suffers and now I know that there are many like her.

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