Coyote,
I don't think that the Jungian "shadow" is a symptom of ocd, or any other mental illness at all. As Jung stated, it's a part of us all. None of us are without "sin" so to speak. We all have this dark side; some more, some less.
But, we all have a place of light too. A place that is of pure love. It is brought out by different things for each of us -- perhaps by a baby's smile; a parent's protective embrace; a stream in the woods; an old couple holding hands; or the touch of a lover. Whatever it is, we all know it.
You ask about coming out the other end. That statement made me think of this old American Indian story I heard years ago. I think it's quite fitting.
An old Cherokee Indian was speaking to his grandson:
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil--he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good -- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a long minute, and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
We cannot control what thoughts come into our minds. But, we do not have to feed those thoughts. We can let them pass through without nourishing them at all. And we *can* consciously choose to think more positive thoughts of loving moments when those negative thoughts pass through. As we replace the negative thoughts with positive ones, we find that the positive ones become more frequent and the negative, less so. It takes time, but, it happens.
Like the old Cherokee said, the wolf we feed is the one who will win.
We each have the choice on which one side of us we will nourish.
This is a great topic of discussion, coyote. Thanks for bringing it up.
Shalom!