Self-Help - Overcoming OCD
Vivek Jayaraman
Organizational Behaviour Coach | Psychologist | Researcher | Visiting Professor
In the previous write-up, we have discussed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and its implications. How does it occur? How do I know if I have OCD? , and What are some of the common disorders that come out of OCD? In this article, we are going to discuss some of the things that can help ease our OCD. Nobody wants to live with a disorder which directly or indirectly affects their everyday life. So, how can we overcome OCD?
How deep is OCD?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is considered or can be comparable to that of chronic disease. OCD itself isn’t a disease but currently recognized as incurable. Chronic illness means illness is persisting for a long time, or it can be regularly recurring, which means that either it comes back after getting cured or takes a longer time to get cured.
It is said the cause for an Obsessive-Compulsive starts before 19 years of age and could be visibly seen or felt after that. OCD could be because of comparisons, abusive childhood, paranoia, drugs, childhood trauma, and loads of other factors. As discussed in the previous blog, OCD affects the everyday life of people who has it. You can also identify people with OCD through motor tics, which they wouldn’t be able to control by themselves. They are anxious, engaged in some deep thoughts about their obsessions.
What are some of the ways to treat OCD?
Below are some of the ways to treat OCD patients.
- Medication
- Psychotherapy
- Brain Stimulation Therapies
- If you don’t want to know more about practices that are used to treat OCD currently, you can move to the last section, where we will discuss Self-Help
These are the primary treatments available outside for OCD. If you go to a therapist, medication or psychotherapy is usually suggested depending on the severity or whether they are a clinical psychotherapist or an applied one.
Medication
Many of the industry-wide medical treatments for psychological disorders are suppressants or sedatives. Suppressants could also be a sedative. I have seen treatments for schizophrenia and severe mental disorders. It mainly involves keeping them sedated, and the sedation level varies from moderate to high depends on the severity of the problem involved. These drugs make the person dull and keep all their senses in a constant state of sedation when taken.
There are a variety of side effects for medication. Sometimes, drug leads to risks and also have benefits. When it comes to treating mental disorders, it is all about trial and error. Many of them get risks while few receive the benefits. Medication at times could also lead to suicidal thoughts, worsen OCD even further, and so on.
People resort to drugs and alcohol themselves to suppress obsessive thoughts or compulsive behavior. The drugs and alcohol are nothing but a sedative and keep them calm if they want to or can turn them violent. Let’s leave the medication part to clinical psychologists and focus on some of the insights that I can offer based on my studies.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a vast field, and there are many ways and means for treating OCD. Let us see some.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Exposure and Response Prevention
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve mental health. CBT focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. CBT is a combination of the basic principles of behavioral and cognitive psychology. CBT is a “problem-focused” and “action-oriented” form of therapy, meaning it is used to treat specific problems related to a diagnosed mental disorder. [Wiki]