Lots of students struggle with math. Not David Dahlberg, who in third grade learned the multiplication tables in one day.
“I’ve always been very quick at math. I have a really good memory,” said Dahlberg, now a 56-year-old math teacher at Glacier Peak High School.
His ease with numbers came with a downside, a debilitating condition that severely affected Dahlberg for much of his life. For years before he knew the name of his problem, Dahlberg grappled with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“The ability to keep track of numbers turned on me,” he said. “I couldn’t shut my mind off.”
Tormented by anxiety, he dealt with irrational fears by performing repetitive actions that hindered daily life.
“It’s a compulsion. I might flick a light switch five times. And if I don’t do it, something bad is going to happen,” said Dahlberg, recalling the type of ritual behavior he once engaged in before getting help and learning to better manage those impulses.
Dahlberg shares his experiences in a book, “Life in a Whirlwind of Numbers: 26 Years of OCD,” which he published in 2014. It’s the second edition and updated version of a book he finished in 2012.
He and his wife, Judy, the parents of two teenage daughters, live in a woodsy area east of Machias. Their home — where pets include two dogs, a wallaby, rabbits, chinchillas, lizards and other critters — has a commanding view of Mount Pilchuck.
It’s a serene place, without a hint of the stresses or fears that compelled Dahlberg to fall into exhausting and time-consuming patterns of counting. Just to go to bed, he once had to count the number of times his feet would tap the floor. If something felt off, or the numbers somehow added up badly in his mind, he had to start again.
Judy Dahlberg, a seventh-grade science teacher at Valley View Middle School in Snohomish, said her husband kept his compulsive routines hidden for years. “He was really ashamed. He never opened up to me about it,” she said. It wasn’t until he was writing the book that she learned the true extent of his struggles.
In their living room is the piano Dahlberg grew up playing in his boyhood home in Lake Forest Park. Still a musician, he often accompanies his 14-year-old daughter, Elise. A singer, she studies music at the Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater in Snohomish.
Elise also showed signs of the condition that troubled her dad. Her parents said early intervention has helped.
It took David Dahlberg years to learn coping skills that now keep his repetitive behaviors at bay. And at times, he has been helped by medications that ease anxiety and help him sleep.
Dahlberg said obsessive-compulsive disorder can run in families. His brother, he said, experienced some symptoms when he was in medical school. “Some people have more of a predisposition to it,” he said.
His issues first arose after a friend died of cancer. “I was 14,” Dahlberg said. He became terrified of contracting a serious disease himself. With his fears came the counting rituals.
In college at Western Washington University, his behaviors became so trying that he sought a counselor’s help. He had trouble getting out the door because of the hours he spent tying his shoes — over and over again. Later, at the University of Washington, he had episodes when he couldn’t sleep. A doctor prescribed anti-anxiety medication, which helped him function.
It wasn’t until 1999 that Dahlberg learned his crippling behaviors had a name. He was a sleep-deprived parent of a 2-year-old when he again sought treatment. “That was the first time I heard it, obsessive-compulsive disorder,” he said.
Dahlberg has been greatly helped by a book that was recommended, “Brain Lock: Free Yourself From Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior,” by Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, who has taught psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.
One of the most helpful tips Dahlberg learned was a simple one. “It’s delay therapy. You can do a ritual, but put it off 30 seconds. Or add another minute or five minutes,” he said. What often happens is that he forgets all about the immediate compulsion to count movements.
“The anxiety you feel is real,” he said. “But the brain begins to rewire itself. You’re able to break the pattern and see that nothing happens.”
Even before he knew his condition’s name, Dahlberg always tried to defy it. “I never felt like giving up,” he said. He wants others to know there’s help. His book isn’t meant as medical advice. It’s his own life, and what works for him.
Dahlberg, who started teaching at the Snohomish Freshman Campus 23 years ago, believes he is a better teacher because of his long ordeal. And he knows math isn’t easy for everyone.
“I try not to make it such a grind,” he said. “My ability to relate to kids about anxieties has helped me a lot as a teacher.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Book information
“Life in a Whirlwind of Numbers: 26 Years of OCD,” by David Dahlberg, is available at Amazon.com or at several Snohomish vendors: Resplendid, Uppercase Bookshop, and Beadee Eyed Gals.
Dahlberg will sign books at 7 p.m. Aug. 15 at Resplendid, 115 Glen Ave., Snohomish; and 1-3 p.m. Sept. 12 at Uppercase Bookshop, 1010 Second St. Unit B, Snohomish.
Information: www.facebook/Whirlwindofnumbers
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