Article: OCD occurs when an unpleasant thought (for example, a thought of spreading disease to your loved ones) happens to pop up in your mind, and an extreme interpretation of that thought follows (maybe having this thought says to you that you are an evil person who can harm others through carelessness). This thought/meaning pair will create a lot of anxiety. Because anxiety is very uncomfortable, you act to make sure that the thought won't come true. In this example, you may wash your hands every time you touch something and say a prayer for your loved ones while washing. While performing this ritual briefly relieves anxiety, the bad thought arises more and more frequently (from trying too hard not to think it). This is the vicious cycle of OCD. The main points of ERP are exposing yourself to situations that bring on obsessions and then not engaging in the unhelpful coping strategy (the compulsive behavior). If your OCD is very severe, you should try ERP under professional guidance. Whatever brings on obsessions and compulsions (situations, objects, people, or other thoughts) are called "triggers" because they activate the cycle of OCD. Knowing what triggers you is crucial since they will be what you expose yourself to in order to practice resisting doing the behavior eases anxiety. Use this form to help you spend a week keeping track of what triggers you. Once you have tracked your obsessions and compulsions for a week, rank all of the situations that you fear from least to most scary. For instance, if you fear contamination, being at your parent's house might be low on the hierarchy. Going there only gives you a fear level of 1/10. Using a public restroom, on the other hand, may rank very high on the hierarchy and cause you an 8 or 9 level fear. Use different fear hierarchies if you have different groups of triggers. For example, all of the situations you fear relating to a fear of disease would go in one hierarchy and fears relating to preventing a disaster would go in another. In order for exposure to work, it is important that you try to resist carrying out your compulsions during or after the exposure (to the extent possible). This is because ERP teaches you to face your fear without the compulsions that go along with it. Then, ask someone you trust to show you how to perform the task that your OCD effects. Learning from their behavior is helpful because chances are good that you have been performing compulsions for some time and don't remember how to face a feared situation without doing it. For example, compulsive hand-washers might ask relatives about their hand washing habits to get a more common perspective on how and when to wash. If completely resisting a compulsion proves too difficult (especially early on), try to delay acting on the compulsion rather than not doing it at all.For example, after leaving the house (exposure), wait for 5 minutes before going back to check your appliances, and only check 2 appliances instead of 5. Gradually prolonging the delay will help you to eventually leave the action behind altogether. If you do end up performing a compulsion, try to re-expose yourself to the same feared situation immediately, and repeat the practice until your fear decreases by half. So, leave the house again immediately after going through the process above, and continue this repetition until your fear drops from an "8" out of 10 to just a "4". Once you experience only a little anxiety when completing an exercise, you can move on to the next one. Say after several practices you only feel very slight anxiety when you wait 5 minutes before checking your appliances after leaving the house. You can then challenge yourself to wait 8 minutes. Remember that even when you feel very intense anxiety, your fear will spike and then slowly level off. If you do not respond to the fear, it will go away on its own. Exposure can be a very trying experience, and you should not hesitate to ask for help from people in your life if you need some additional support.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Learn the vicious cycle of OCD. Identify your triggers. Write out a fear hierarchy. Face your fear. Move exposure forward.
Article: Engines designed to run on diesel fuel operate differently than those designed to run on regular gasoline. Diesel engines do not use spark plugs, and instead rely on the compression of the air and fuel to ignite the mixture alone. Because of this, diesel fuel is less stable and cannot be used in engines designed for gasoline. Diesel vehicles usually have clear "diesel only" markings on the inside of their fuel doors, and traditional gas pumps won't fit in their filler necks. Diesel fuel usually comes in only one grade, so there are no options to choose from. If you aren't sure if your vehicle operates on diesel fuel, refer to the owner's manual or manufacturer's website. Every time you pull up to the pump, you're presented with a few different options for the octane rating in the gas you put into your engine. Most places offer 87, 89, and 91 octane fuel, while some locations may offer higher octane options at the same or separate pumps. This rating is a measure of the stability of the fuel under compression. Higher octane fuels are more stable and less likely to pre-detonate before the spark plug ignites the air/fuel mixture. Pre-detonation (sometimes called "pinging") can cause serious damage to your engine. Engines with higher compression ratios require a higher octane fuel to ensure their air/fuel mixture doesn't pre-detonate. Most car makers design their engines with a specific octane fuel in mind. Higher octane doesn't necessarily mean better performance. High performance engines often require a higher octane fuel because they utilize much higher compression ratios than most vehicles. The compression ratio is the comparison between the volume of air and fuel that can fit into a cylinder with the piston in the down position and the same volume when the piston is in the up position (or when the air and fuel are compressed). Lower compression engines do not require a high octane fuel and often won't benefit from its use. You can get the best performance, mileage and emissions under normal driving conditions from using the octane fuel your engine was designed for, not the highest octane available. The octane rating an engine requires has much more to do with its design than it does with its performance. Every engine is designed with a specific octane rating in mind, so the easiest way to know what kind of fuel to use in your car is to refer to the factory owner's manual. Many economy cars are designed to run best using 87 octane fuel because the automakers understand that a person shopping for an economy car would likely also prefer to use less expensive fuel, while many higher end cars may specifically state that you should use 91 octane. Make sure to use the octane rating specified for your vehicle in order to keep your engine running properly. Some cars will state the required octane rating on your dash board near the fuel gauge. Cars that require 91 octane often have a reminder printed on the inside of the fuel cap to ensure you use the proper rated fuel. If you purchased your vehicle used without an owner's manual or you've misplaced it, you can often find the required octane rating for your vehicle on the automaker's website. If you are having difficulty locating it, try a simple search query such as, "what is the correct octane fuel for a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta?" Only trust information you find on reputable websites such as the official site for the automaker. Do not trust information about fuel types you should use that you find on blogs or in forums.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Use diesel fuel if your vehicle is designed for it. Understand what an octane rating means. Don't assume higher octane improves performance. Check in your vehicle's owner's manual. Check the automaker's website.