Is OCD Having A Devastating Effect On Your Mental Health (And Your Loved Ones)?

• Are you stuck in the cycle of intrusive thoughts, repetitive habits, and rumination?
• Do you often feel anxious, thinking and worrying about “what-ifs” and getting stuck doubting basic things?
• Have you noticed that you spend a lot of time and energy thinking and making sure everything is OK—only to have to repeat the pattern again? (And again?)

Like most people suffering from OCD, in addition to the anxiety caused by obsessions, you may feel incredibly frustrated. You know these thoughts are fake or illogical—yet you just can’t stop worrying: “What if they’re true?”

It can be very confusing and disorienting when the space between what is real and what is imaginary becomes so blurred.

OCD Is More Than Just Extreme Cleanliness And Perfectionism

Some like to jokingly use OCD as an adjective, with comments like “I’m really OCD about organizing my room,“ or, “My boyfriend is so OCD about his hair.” In reality, though, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a crippling mental health condition that can take over your life if not treated effectively.

The fact that obsessive-compulsive thoughts can seem so confusing can make you wonder about their reason or origin. While there are no entirely clear answers as to why some people develop OCD and others do not, we do know that experiencing severe stress of any kind can make you more vulnerable to having the kind of anxious reaction to intrusive thoughts that can set OCD in motion.

The great news, however, is that there are effective treatments for OCD. It is often said that you don’t necessarily need to find the match that started a fire in order to put the fire out. And OCD therapy at CBT SoCal can help you do exactly that.

OCD Can Take On A Number Of Forms

As per a Harvard Medical School study, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is estimated to affect 2.3% of our entire population at some point in life [1]. The average age of initial onset for sufferers is 19 years [2].

Sufferers may experience one or multiple forms of OCD at any given time, or various forms at different times.

What Is Meant With “Obsessions”?

“Obsessions” in OCD simply mean unwanted, intrusive thoughts or images based on doubt, fear, and worry. Common examples can include:

Harm OCD – Worries about harming oneself and/or others in some violent, impulsive, or reckless way.

Contamination OCD – Excessive worries about being exposed to germs that could lead to illness, death, or intolerable disgust.

Scrupulosity (moral or religious) – Rigid worries about doing something wrong, immoral, or sinful, or about unintentionally becoming an unpardonably bad person.

Health/Illness Anxiety (Hypochondriasis) – Exaggerated worries about terminal or chronic illness and/or seeking reassurance from multiple medical professionals and online searches about perceived health issues.

Existential OCD – Repetitive and circular worries about philosophical matters, life meaning, and/or life after death.

Relationship OCD – Anxious thoughts about leaving a partner or spouse and being intended for a relationship with someone else.

Real Event OCD (or “False Memory” OCD) – Doubting one’s memory and repeated questioning of some past event or conversation, fearing to have done something deserving of guilt or regret.

Sensorimotor or Somatic OCD – Continuous thoughts fixated on that a basic bodily function may be irregular, a sign of more serious illness, or a target for social embarrassment.

Perfectionism or “Just Right” OCD – Repeated discomfort about something being, looking, or feeling “not quite right,” imperfect, misaligned, or asymmetrical, with efforts to make them feel “right.”

Sexual Orientation OCD – Anxious doubts and rumination about one’s sexual orientation without any clear basis.

What Is Meant With “Compulsions”?

“Compulsions” in OCD are thoughts or habits that people repeat in order to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessions. Examples can include:

Excessive Washing or Disinfecting – Frequent hand washing to the point of having dry, cracked, or bleeding skin, or spending hours disinfecting door knobs and household surfaces.

Reassurance Seeking – Repeatedly seeking out parents, friends, professionals, and internet searches to confirm one’s safety, moral uprightness, or accurate memory about past events.

Checking (and re-checking) – Performing multiple and increasingly elaborate checks on house and car locks, alarms, stove switches, text messages, emails, etc.

Ruminating and “Reasoning” – Efforts to “think through” or “figure out” a way to disprove obsessions that often just play into OCD’s trap.

Rigid Praying, Reading Religious Texts, or Performing Liturgy – Scrupulosity sufferers may repeat religious practices as a way to relieve guilt or doubt in one’s moral standing.

In addition to repetitive compulsions and obsessive thoughts, OCD sufferers may tend to avoid certain activities, places, images, or reminders of their obsessions.

Unfortunately, neither avoidance nor rituals serve to make OCD better but only wear down your ability to trust your own logic, senses, and experience. A skilled therapist, though, can be your personal guide out of the uncertainty OCD has caused.

Therapy Can Help You Shake Off The Pain Of OCD

Finding the right treatment for OCD can be a confusing and exhausting undertaking.

We know from years of experience that just creating a “safe space” in therapy to discuss intrusive thoughts and compulsive rumination is not sufficient. Recovery from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder requires specialized education, guidance, and direction, as well as practice in between therapy sessions to master new coping skills.

That is why our practice specializes in providing evidence-based, tailored skills, tools, and education for minimizing the distress caused by OCD in your life.

What To Expect In Sessions

Throughout therapy, we’re here to support you and help you understand clearly how your OCD has come about and maintains itself.

From that basis of understanding, a counselor will work with you on a concrete plan tailored to your needs to beat OCD. Sometimes, this may mean confronting it via specific exposure or reducing its “power source” by preventing compulsions. Other times, the strategy may be to side-step the trap of OCD altogether.

With a clear understanding of how OCD works to keep you stuck and a tangible plan to dismantle it, you can already experience a sense of hope, even before we start carrying out the plan together.

Targeted and Effective Approaches for OCD Treatment

Skilled and effective therapy should be grounded in treatments that have been developed and researched to apply specifically to the unique challenges of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) – As the most widely studied and utilized treatment for OCD, this approach involves coaching you to gradually confront avoided triggers, thoughts, or images to reduce anxiety, compulsions, rituals, and rumination.

Inference-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy (ICBT) – A specific type of CBT that can help you identify your obsessional doubts and understand the unique intricacies of OCD to keep you from getting sucked into intrusive thought patterns altogether.

Either approach (or elements of both), may be beneficial in your case. Our team is skilled in evaluating your needs and educating you about these treatment options.

Maybe You’re Not Quite Sure Yet If OCD Therapy Is For You…

How many counseling sessions are necessary to overcome OCD?

Some clients report feeling great relief within just a few sessions just by having a better understanding of OCD and how to cope with intrusive thoughts. For others, it can be a longer process—most notably if they’re also dealing with ongoing health or relationship stressors, substance abuse, or post-traumatic stress.

Do I have to rely on medication to treat my OCD?

While there are medications shown to be helpful for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, most people say they prefer not to rely on them for treatment and recovery. Moreover, general talk therapy can be helpful for certain issues, but it’s not necessarily effective for OCD. That is why we approach therapy for OCD differently—through skill-based treatment methods.

I’m not sure how to help a family member who is suffering from OCD.

If you’re in a relationship with an OCD sufferer, or a parent of a child or teen with OCD, you may desperately want to help reduce their suffering. But you may also be tired, frustrated, and confused as to why your efforts have not been successful. Despite many good intentions, this strain can create a lot of stress on relationships and families.

Seeking a professional specializing in treating OCD can make all the difference. Our therapists understand your situation and want to use every tool, strategy, and treatment intervention necessary to help your loved one feel better.

Let Our Expert Therapists Help You Break Free From The Devastating Impact Of OCD

At CBT SoCal, we have a long tradition of expertise in OCD therapy and have helped hundreds of people over the years to confront OCD and limit its devastating emotional, professional, and financial impact. We have also trained, consulted, and supervised mental health professionals in other practices and clinical settings to treat OCD effectively.

If you or your loved one suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, we invite you to contact us and schedule a free phone evaluation to see how we can best help.

Sources:

[1] Harvard Medical Review https://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/ftpdir/table_ncsr_LTprevgenderxage.pdf

[2] Mol Psychiatry https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2797569/