The Most Effective Form of Treatment For People With OCD

855 Words2 Pages

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is considered an anxiety disorder. “Anxiety disorders make their sufferers feel disproportionately anxious or fearful.” McGrath (2007) With OCD people experience obsessive thoughts, images or impulses repeatedly ranging from annoying to extremely distressing. They then respond to those thoughts with repetitive compulsive behaviors or thoughts. New studies have shown that around 6-9 million Americans alone suffer from OCD. The research I have done on the subject seems to point to cognitive behavioral therapy as the most effective treatment for patients suffering from the disorder.

There are some differing ides to as what causes OCD and whether those causes are chemical or biological. Carmin (2009) OCD prevents it’s sufferers from living their lives as they would like to sometimes affecting friendships, marriages and their self-confidence. Thankfully, OCD is a treatable disease and with the help of cognitive behavioral therapy, most sufferers can learn to manage their symptoms and improve their lives.

People who suffer from OCD give their random thoughts more credibility and imagine that the things that they fear will come true. OCD sufferers often realize that their thoughts are not logical but they are engulfed by them. McGrath (2007). People with OCD suffer from obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts or images that appear in a person’s mind that cause them severe anxiety or distress. Compulsions on the other hand are a ritual a person performs to try to get rid of or counteract their obsessive thoughts. Compulsive rituals will relieve some of the anxiety but only temporarily then the obsessions return and unfortunately, compulsions only end up reinforcing ...

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Houghton, S., Saxon, D., Bradburn, M., Ricketts, T., & Hardy, G. (2010). The effectiveness of

routinely delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A

benchmarking study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(4), 473-489.

doi:10.1348/014466509X475414

McGrath, P.B. (2007). The OCD Answer Book. Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks, Inc.

Podea, D., Suciu, R., Suciu, C., & Ardelean, M. (2009). AN UPDATE ON THE COGNITIVE

BEHAVIOR THERAPY OF OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER IN ADULTS.

Journal of Cognitive & Behavioral Psychotherapies, 9(2), 221-233. Retrieved from

EBSCOhost.

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