OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) is an Anxiety Disorder that involves experiencing intrusive and unwanted thoughts that are usually distasteful. They can be frightening and cause angst to a degree that they occupy the mental space needed to take care of other daily tasks. Depending on the severity and frequency of these obsessions, people may feel that they are not in control of their own minds.
The obsessions usually create an urge to do something in order to decrease the anxiety they provoke. The obsessions can be of religious content, morality, violence and aggression, contamination, responsibility for mistakes or harm, and/or order and symmetry.
Usually, people with obsessions feel very guilty about having them, but it is not their fault. This is what obsessive-compulsive disorder creates.
There are different degrees of severity but it can become impairing. For example, people with fears of getting contaminated by germs may spend hours cleaning instead of taking care of other responsibilities.
Click To Read An Article Written By Dr. Jane Mizevich About When You Love Someone With OCD
OCD treatment involves a thorough assessment of the different obsessions and compulsions and a plan to take care of each of them, one by one. It includes providing the client with psycho-education, teaching relaxation techniques to calm the body and mind, and ways to challenge the mental obsessions.
During the second stage of treatment, clients are invited to face some of their fears starting with the less scary ones. The therapist provides support, encouragement, and techniques in order to make the exposure exercises more achievable. Due to the nature of this particular condition, professional support is encouraged for the individual to proceed with the exposure exercises.
CBT Therapy is the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders. To learn more about CBT, click Here.
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