OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is a serious psychological condition that consists of unwanted and anxiety provoking intrusive thoughts, and disruptive, exhausting, distressing and time consuming compulsions which are your best attempts to lessen your distress.
OCD can be about all kinds of themes, not just cleanliness or neatness. OCD is so distressing, because it almost always makes you fear things counter to your values.
The treatment of OCD begins with us taking a thorough history of your life, the events which have shaped you, and a detailed history of your symptoms.
You will then be taught alot about OCD, and how it relates to you. And I mean alot! This understanding is vital in your treatment, as your insight about your OCD helps you recognise and then in time reduce those unhelpful things OCD makes you feel like you need to do (the compulsions).
Seeing OCD and not believing OCD is the key.
You will start to learn how to throw a spanner in OCD’s works, learn how to disrupt the rigid patterns it has you following.
You will learn how to do your compulsions with playfulness, humour, and flexibility and then move on to how to delay them, and then reduce them.
You will then learn how to systematically confront the thoughts, images, objects or situations that you make you anxious and provoke your compulsions, with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).
Know that effective psychological treatments for OCD are available. These will nearly always be more effective when combined with medication prescribed by your GP or psychiatrist.