Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Symptoms & Treatments
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What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder. OCD comprises of 2 main parts: 1.
the obsessive thoughts that are intrusive in your mind and usually cause a lot of distress and 2.
behaviours that seek to deal with the thoughts.
There are lots of ways that OCD can present- one often thinks about common behaviours such as rituals around washing or checking behaviours that are often very time consuming and involve a lot of emotional energy. Such behaviours can be associated with trying to prevent something bad from happening. For example you may think that if you carry out an activity a set number of times or in a set routine then you can keep others safe from harm. Even though you may know in theory that this is unlikely, it may feel that you cannot take the chance.
Other types of OCD involve intrusive thoughts that can be very disturbing such as thoughts or images of a sexual, violent or blasphemous nature. This can make us judge ourselves negatively and cause a lot of worry that we are just like our thoughts.
In reality OCD is just like a bully who tries to convince you that these behaviours will keep you safe, but the reality is that the more you give the more the OCD bully will be coming back.
Symptoms of OCD
Symptoms of OCD involve having worries that are intrusive in nature and cause you a lot of upset. Often the thoughts are do to with harm to oneself or others eg contamination, fear of the house burning down or having unwanted sexual thoughts. Such thoughts cause anxiety and the rituals such as washing hands, checking the oven or trying to get rid of thoughts can work in the short term, but in the long run it only serves to reinforce the anxiety.
“Thoughts are only thoughts. They are not you. You do belong to yourself, even when your thoughts don't.”John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
Therapy for OCD
There are many things that can help tackle OCD. By doing things differently (not engaging in the ritual) you can start to break the connections that have become established and realise that you are able to cope with the anxiety. CBT helps address the way that you think about the OCD, tolerate the doubts that come into your mind and learn to live with some uncertainty.
The therapy for OCD follows a path in which these constructed habits and rituals are tested out in reality. At the client's own pace one can examine the effectiveness of the behaviours in stopping anxiety. People find that a once way to solve the problems has now become the problem itself and that washing excessively can limit your life. Techniques are used to reduce these behaviours and you can understand that rather than a problem of harm it is a problem of anxiety that can be treated. Sessions look at the evidence for the anxious thoughts and seek to develop tools that can help you overcome the urge to engage in the ritualised behaviour.
Once there was a builder's apprentice who was asked by his boss to lean against the wall to make sure that it did not fall over. During the tea break everyone went off for a refreshing cup of tea and the builder's apprentice felt that he had to stay to keep the wall up. Sure enough the wall did not fall over.
There comes a point when one must question how long are we going to keep holding up walls or do we test out the reality if the wall is robust enough. The apprentice could keep holding up the call forever and keep him safe but this is likely to be much more problematic that any impact of an unstable wall.
In essence, the one time solution has become the problem.
Next steps for overcoming your OCD
I offer a
free confidential
15 minute telephone consultation before any commitments where we can discuss if therapy is the right approach.
Give me a call today or use the online booking form to setup a free 15 minute telephone consultation and I can discuss how I can help with your OCD issues.
All calls are completely confidential.
