Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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Treatment for the Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is best treated with therapy or medication. However, some lifestyle changes can help patients cope with the disorder as well. This treatment overview covers all popular options for patients with OCD.

3 Comments: Treatment for the Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  1. I don’t agree that ERP is cure for OCD symptoms. My therapist had made me put hands in mud and after that said that mud contains excreta of animals, birds, humans. After that my OCD symptoms increased and since then I’ve only become worst. After that if anything like a hand kerchief, pencil, etc. fell on the ground I never pick, up I just leave it there.

    Moreover if ERP could cure or reduce symptoms of OCD then I should have got cured completely by now. On August 29, 2017 my city had very heavy, continuous rainfall. The roads were flooded with rain water mixed with drainage water. There were cockroaches climbing over us as we were walking in waist deep water, having no other alternative to reach home. I was walking in that dirty filthy water for around 6.5 hours. 3-4 times I lost my balance and almost drowned, but other people helped me.

    So as per ERP I should have become immune to dirt, but no my OCD symptoms have been worst since that day. I hate stepping out of the house. I’m obsessed with keeping my room clean and sitting alone in my clean room. I’m not interested in going out to meet friends, I avoid invitations. When I’m out I’m very tensed that I don’t touch or go near anything dirty. In fact I just want to rush home, have a bath and sit in my corner. SO ERP IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR CONTROLLING OCD SYMPTOMS.

    1. Hi, I know it’s been a year since you posted, but I hope you are doing better. I just wanted you to know that OCD can not be cured but is treatable, so don’t be too hard on yourself if the OCD never goes away. I have done the ERP by myself and with an OCD specialist. After reading your story, from my experience, I believe that the therapist who told you to put your hand in the mud was too much for you to handle at that particular time. The ERP is most effective when it’s done in a hierarchy of which is least provoking for you first. I too have a contamination fear. So for me something like what you did with the mud would be a level 6 on a 1-10 scale. 10 being the most difficult exposure. It’s called SUD. When you begin the treatment you want to start somewhere around 2 or 3 where you feel mild anxiety but can handle it. And as you learn to get over that “stage” you become more confident in tackling an exposure that’s higher on the scale. So the mud exposure for you may have been a 5 or a 6. Then something easier like maybe touching a doorknob would’ve been a good place to start. I hope that made sense. Also when you were walking in filthy water, 1. It was probably a 10 for you and 2. You weren’t in control. ERP works when you have a sense of control. When you purposely do the exposure. I usually don’t respond to other people’s comments but I understand your fear and unfortunately ERP is the only way to really deal with OCD. Also maybe you may need to be on SSRI meds. Sometimes when OCD is too severe in combination with the ERP(gold standard treatment) the meds can help. I know because that’s what I needed and it helped me. I was hesitant at first but after researching and talking to a psychiatrist, fluoxetine had worked for me. It is not addictive so maybe you might want to consider it? I’m sorry if I was out of place in telling you this but it’s hard to see other OCD sufferers in pain. Because I understand.

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