Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Treatment
OCD treatment makes it easier to control your fear-induced impulses. It lets you break free from the rituals that hinder your day-to-day life. The treatment approach to manage obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is more than trying to stop intrusive thoughts. It involves cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and OCD medications, to name a few. OCD therapy and treatment plan depend on the results of screening and assessment of your symptoms.
What is OCD Treatment?
With OCD, obsessive thoughts and repetitive compulsive behaviours begin to take over your life. They cause distress, which often leads to mood and anxiety disorders. OCD treatment helps you gain control over such patterns through coping systems. They reduce the fear associated with obsessive triggers.
The focus of most OCD treatments in adults is on building emotional stability and confidence. The ultimate goal is to improve your functioning at home, work, and in relationships, as OCD has a strong impact on the quality of your life.
Types of OCD Treatments
The best way to treat OCD is through safe and proven therapies. Such scientifically backed treatment options include:
01 Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy where your obsession and compulsion patterns are studied, and you are trained to gradually control fears associated with them.
ERP OCD treatment progresses in sessions where you are placed in situations where you are directed not to act on your compulsions and obsessions.
The therapist will place your triggers in a hierarchy and proceed with the sessions based on what bothers you the most, starting with the easiest. ERP OCD treatment progresses in sessions where you are placed in situations where you are directed not to act on your compulsions and obsessions.
You are not forced to control yourself, rather encouraged at your own pace. You start by delaying your response to such compulsions, which eventually leads to control over them.
02 Imaginal Therapy
If you are not too comfortable with exposure just yet, imaginal therapy is used as the starting point. Here, you visualise scenarios where a routine can trigger anxiety. It will mimic routines close to what you follow.
For example, the therapist may ask you to create a scenario where you walk down the hallway in a “not so perfect” pattern. Visualising this multiple times, while checking on the anxiety level, can help reduce the fear associated with the situation.
A modernised version of this is VR therapy. It uses immersive, computer-generated environments, which simulate real-life scenarios. This version offers a flexible and safe alternative to visualise triggering routines.
03 Cognitive Therapy (CT)
Also known as cognitive restricting, CT helps identify the thoughts and beliefs that make you engage in obsessions and compulsions. Such emotions are typically attributed to an unrealistic sense of responsibility, distorted belief in the importance of such compulsions, and the overestimation of threat.
Therapists in this OCD treatment without medication work on challenging such irrational emotions and aligning you with a realistic perspective.
04 Habit Reversal Training
Awareness is the focus of this OCD treatment. You are encouraged to practise a habit or compulsive ritual in front of a mirror, while focusing on how it impacts the sensations in your body.
The idea is that with time you learn to catch obsessive responses when you are physically doing something your body is not against such responses.
05 OCD Medication
To help cope with your OCD symptoms, a type of antidepressant known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is prescribed.
They include citalopram, fluoxetine, sertraline, and the like. It may take a while to be on these medications before you notice any difference. OCD treatment with SSRIs involves higher doses and longer durations.
06 Combination Treatments
Few therapies are effective as standalone but combining them with medications and other treatment approaches leads to better results. Your therapist may decide to combine different treatments based on your response to them and your case file.
Advanced Treatment Options for OCD
If the response to primary treatment plans is not satisfactory, severe OCT treatment options with advanced techniques and close clinical supervision are prescribed.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
OCD engages you in behaviours that interfere with your lifestyle, which means you are more likely to feel stuck in certain areas of your life. ACT focuses on engagement in those parts of your life. It promotes involvement in important life activities and going beyond OCD.
With this treatment approach, you are guided to accept the anxiety that comes with OCD rather than avoidance. The aim is to make you stronger in experiencing discomfort while making important choices, rather than letting compulsions get in the way. ACT is often used as an adjunctive treatment with ERP.
Metacognitive Therapy
Metacognitive therapy involves asking how your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours form and persist. It makes you understand your relationship with those thoughts. It makes you think about the underlying fear, disgust, or shame behind the compulsions, which you mistakenly perceive as helpful. Once you work on decoding this, you are empowered to tolerate the temporary discomfort while giving them up.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)y
In this non-invasive treatment, magnetic fields are used to target specific brain regions that trigger OCD symptoms. The wire coil inside the TMS device generates a magnetic field that targets your brain activity. It stimulates specific areas involved in OCD. The discomfort with this procedure is mild and is typically not long-lasting. It is considered one of the best treatments for OCD and depression when therapies fail.
How Effective is OCD Treatment?
ERP is recognised as a reliable treatment for OCD. It is considered the gold standard for treating OCD among psychiatrists around the world. This is followed by SSRI and CBT, and their combination, recommended under the Indian Psychiatry Society Practice guidelines, echoing international standards. These treatment plans, along with ACT, TMS, DBS, and other approaches, are safe, proven, and evidence backed.
For instance, per a case report, a middle-aged woman was treated with CBT and ERP for her cleaning compulsions and obsessive thoughts related to the Bindi (a decorative piece worn by women on the forehead).
The treatment plan involved ERP sessions focused on restructuring beliefs and thoughts associated with the compulsions or obsessions. After twenty-five therapy sessions, an improvement in coping with anxiety-provoking thoughts and reduced washing compulsions was noticed. The effects were observed to be consistent for up to two months of follow-up.
When to Seek Help for OCD at Maarga Mind Care
Unpleasant and unwanted thoughts are common, but when they become persistent and interrupt your other thoughts, it is a warning sign. It is a cause for concern when they dominate you to an extent where your day-to-day gets significantly affected. Also, these thoughts, accompanied by fear, shame, or disgust, are a sign of OCD. When you notice this, it’s time to seek help.
Obsessions and compulsions look different in everyone. But some common patterns include:
Obsessions:
- Irrational fear of contamination.
- Fear of harming yourself or others by mistake.
- Consistent need for orderliness and symmetry, to the extent that not doing it impacts you mentally.
Compulsions:
- Excessive urge for hand washing or cleaning.
- Repeating a word, name, phrase, or number in your head or out loud.
- Checking on objects or feeling the need to correct things in a certain way.
- Constant need for reassurance from people.
- Thinking about the same thing over and over again.
- Avoiding people, access to things, or places to avoid feeling anxious or uncomfortable.
Why Choose Maarga for OCD Treatment?
If you have recognised the symptoms, prompt care at the right place can help you gain control over OCD. At Maarga Mindcare, you are under the care of experienced psychiatrists and psychologists who build curated treatment plans that support, empower, and understand your journey with OCD. The comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care facilities focus on your comfort, education, and long-term care. Following the APA (American Psychological Association) guidelines, our psychiatrists uphold your symptoms assessment and treatment plan to the international standards.
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Disclaimer
The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional medical consultation. OCD treatment results vary from person to person. Please consult a specialist psychiatrist or psychologist for personalised care. If you or your loved one is struggling with OCD, reach out to Maarga Mind Care – a trusted psychiatric hospital in India. Our experts can help you start your journey to recovery.
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