OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is marked by repetitive, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, often about unpleasant or uncomfortable topics. Examples include killing or injuring someone, being gay if one is actually heterosexual, or acquiring infection by germs or parasites. These obsessive thoughts can cause great anxiety. In OCD, the anxiety (or the obsession) is often relieved by engaging in a ritual that lessens the anxiety, which is a specific sort of action called a compulsion. These compulsions often involve hand washing, repeating actions a particular number of times (like flicking light switches), or having particular thoughts/saying particular words to oneself.
These behaviors relieve the associated obsessions. Often, there is an understandable, obvious connection between the obsession and the compulsion. For instance, someone with obsessive thoughts of contamination likely engages in hand washing compulsions. In addition to significant amounts of distress, people with OCD often encounter problems in work and social settings when compulsions become time-consuming and overly distracting.
People living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience persistent, worrisome thoughts (called obsessions), and usually engage in repetitive behaviors (called compulsions) as a means of reducing or relieveing their obsessions. For example, a person who is worried about being contaminated by dirt and germs (the obsession) may wash their hands repeatedly (the compulsion) in an effort to prevent illness. This becomes a problem when it interferes with their daily life; people with OCD may be so worried about germs, for example, that they cannot focus on other things. Although this is a common example, people living with OCD have a very wide range of obsessions and compulsions.
Treatment for OCD at the Anxiety Treatment Center of Austin
The Anxiety Treatment Center of Austin uses Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP), a psychological treatment for OCD which has been demonstrated in scientific studies to help many people overcome their OCD. ERP involves helping a person to engage in activities which are feared (such as touching dirty surfaces) without engaging in their compulsive responses (like hand washing). This is achieved after an in-depth evaluation and only once a person is comfortable working with their therapist. As a unique approach, ERP is combined with Acceptance-Based Behavior Therapy, which involves learning to manage and accept unwanted thoughts and feelings. In other words, a person may always experience some obsessive worry, but they can learn to live with this worry, and accept it as a thought.