The Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Imagine getting ready to leave your house for a day of work and then all of a sudden you see your house burn down, and then burn down again, and again, over and over just because you forgot to turn your stove off or the light in the living room. This is the “obsessive” part of OCD, having uncontrollable obsessive thoughts. Now imagine absolutely having to turn your light switch or oven on and off 20 or more times just to make sure that it is actually off. This is the “compulsive” part of OCD, having uncontrollable compulsions and this is what people living with OCD deal with daily. True OCD isn’t being annoyed by something that isn’t in the right order or being annoyed by something that isn’t in a straight line. True OCD is having uncontrollable

According to the National Anxiety Foundation the amount of men and women affected by it world wide is pretty equal and is about 2.3% of the population. Which is nearly 1 in 40 adults and 1 in 100 children just here in the U.S. In rare cases OCD can become so severe that the person suffering with OCD can be hospitalized and it isn’t uncommon for OCD to be accompanied by other diseases such as depression or panic attacks. It causes depression mainly because of the thoughts. Which are uncontrollable and in more cases than not, the thoughts are bad thoughts that no one wants to be thinking about on a daily

The first type of treatment a patient with OCD is likely to receive is cognitive behavior therapy. In CBT the patient and therapist come up with a list of the patient's symptoms. The patient is then introduced to the least “anxiety invoking” item on the list until it no longer causes anxiety. The next step of treatment or the first step for patients with severe OCD would be serotonin reuptake inhibitors. This is a drug that affects a certain part of the brain and helps with OCD symptoms. In most cases a form of CBT and SRI’s will be used together for more effectiveness. Another type of therapy is exposure and response therapy and has also been proven very effective for many patients. ERP is a type of therapy used to expose the patient to their fear and then refrain from ritualizing. For example someone with an extreme fear of germs might be asked to touch a toilet seat and then refrain from washing their hands. These are the most common and helpful therapies for OCD. There is no set in stone cure for OCD and there may never be. But research is being done every day to help find a