Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Compulsions are repetitive actions and behaviors a person with OCD does to try to counteract the excessive doubt or fear they feel about their triggers. They may even realize that a certain action isn’t the best way to fix their obsession, but they do it anyway because they feel so strongly compelled to.

The key difference between a repetitive ritual most people perform, such as brushing your teeth, is how the individual feels about it. Most of us don’t mind brushing our teeth, and we even enjoy how minty and fresh it makes our mouths feel. (Unless you are a toddler, of course, and consider it more of a form of parental torture.) Brushing our teeth, though a routine act done to keep the germs away, brings a sense of pleasure and satisfaction and is not a compulsion.

On the other hand, if someone uses a second toothbrush to scrub the first toothbrush clean in a long, drawn out procedure that adds over thirty minutes to their bedtime routine that they wish they could skip, but no matter how much they try, they just. can’t. skip. it? Now that is a compulsion. It is an action an individual feels a powerful urge to do to get rid of the fear or doubt caused by their obsession (in this case, a contamination obsession), and the compulsive action brings them great distress. They dearly wished they didn’t have to waste so much time doing it every day of their lives, but they can’t help it.

These are a few of the common compulsions for each of the above obsessions.

Washing and Cleaning Compulsions - These compulsions can include excessively washing one’s hands, excessively cleaning household items, excessive showering, toothbrushing, or toilet routines.

Checking Compulsions - These compulsions can include checking that you didn’t make a mistake, didn’t harm someone, didn’t harm yourself, or that nothing terrible happened. Also things like excessive checking to see if the door is locked, the oven off, the seat belt buckled, etc.

Repeating Compulsions - Repeating compulsions can include rereading or rewriting, repeating body movements such as tapping, blinking, and touching objects, ordering/arranging things in a precise and particular manner, or repeating activities multiple times, such as closing the fridge three times since that is a “safe” number to know you did it right.

Mental Compulsions - This can include counting in one’s head in a specific pattern, always ending their counting on a “good” number, praying to prevent harm, or reviewing the day’s events in their head to make sure everyone was safe.

People with OCD may have symptoms of obsessions or compulsions, or oftentimes both. These symptoms can interfere with all aspects of someone’s life. Generally, a person with OCD can’t control their thoughts or behaviors, even when they recognize them as excessive or extreme. They can lose many hours of their day hyper focused on their obsessions or compulsions. If this is you, you are not alone. We are here for you.

Individuals with OCD, thankfully, can be treated, and with proper treatment, can often feel a satisfying increase in their ability to return to regular functioning in their lives. OCD is most often treated with medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. There are also several lifestyle changes you can make that will improve your overall mental health and sense of wellbeing and happiness.

Medications:

A type of medication called SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is commonly prescribed to improve OCD symptoms. When you start a new medication, it often takes up to 6 - 12 weeks to see the full measure of its effectiveness, so you’ll want to stick with it and remain patient before you witness the results. There are several types you can try if the first one doesn’t work as you’d like.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the best, most powerful treatments for OCD (1). A specific branch of it called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in particular. It includes a process that teaches you how to respond in situations when you are confronted with your obsession triggers. Over time, it can help decrease your anxiety caused by various obsessions and help you resist the urges to act out your compulsions. Evidence shows it to be quite effective. We highly recommend this as a method you try to combat your OCD.

Lifestyle Changes:

Here at Psycophi we specialize in teaching lifestyle modifications that can improve your overall mental health and decrease unwanted symptoms from your mental conditions. Our philosophy is grounded in making small steps of change that lead to big results. And whether you believe it or not, the choices you make every single day in your routines (and I don’t mean your compulsive routines, I mean your other ones, like what you eat for breakfast and how late you stay awake at night) have huge impacts for the way you feel about yourself and what you are accomplishing in your life.

Throughout our website, we have several pages that teach you some basics for changing the way you eat, sleep, move, and breathe. We encourage you to take those links and learn what you can start doing today to take back control, redirect your choices and the course of your life, and so you can become your best, optimal self. We want you to be happy with who you are, and these fundamentals in your lifestyle can dramatically make the difference.