Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders

According to The International OCD Foundation, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD is a mental health disorder that affects every 1 in 100 adults and 1 in 200 children and adolescents. That means that two to three million adults and half a million kids are struggling with this disorder every day (1).

What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

OCD is characterized by Obsessions and Compulsions that significantly impact an individual’s functioning and cause significant distress.

Obsessions are:

  • Unwanted and uncontrollable thoughts, urges, or images that an individual persistently has and that causes that individual a lot of anxiety or distress.

  • Common obsessional themes include:

    • Responsibility for harm or mistakes

    • Contamination

    • Symmetry and Exactness

    • Violence and Aggression

    • Sexual Thoughts

    • Religion and Morality

Compulsions are:

  • Behaviors or mental acts that an individual performs to reduce the anxiety or distress brought on by the obsession.

  • Common compulsions include:

    • Washing

    • Checking

    • Counting

    • Ordering and Arranging

    • Mentally reviewing events to prevent harm to oneself or others

    • Repeating certain actions

    • Reassurance Seeking

The OCD Cycle

When an individual with OCD experiences an intrusive thought or image, they often interpret that thought as threatening or dangerous, which then leads to increased anxiety. To cope with the anxiety, the individual then engages in a compulsive behavior. In the short term, the rituals or avoidance make individuals feel better because they decrease anxiety. However, in the long term, they exacerbate the OCD and anxiety (2).

Diagram courtesy of Abramowitz, J.S. (2018). Getting Over OCD: A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life. Guilford.

How Do I Treat My OCD?

The best way for individuals to break the OCD cycle is to confront their fears through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

In ERP, individuals learn to confront the situations, thoughts, and images that make them anxious or cause them distress and to resist the accompanying compulsive behaviors. By doing so, individuals learn that:

  • Our feared situations, outcomes, or triggers are not as dangerous and scary as initially thought.

  • We are capable of tolerating the anxiety, risk, and uncertainty that we have avoided for so long.

  • Our feared outcomes usually don't occur; and if they do, we can manage it better than we thought.

What are Considered Related Disorders?

  • Misophonia (aversive response to specific sounds)

  • Hair-Pulling (Trichotillomania)

  • Skin-Picking (Excoriation)

  • Perfectionism

How Can I Get Started?

All therapists at The North Suburban Center for Anxiety specialize in using exposure therapy to treat OCD and Related Disorders. To learn more about our OCD therapy services or to make a virtual or in person appointment in Northbrook, complete the form HERE or at 224-326-0068.

References:

  1. International OCD Foundation (https://iocdf.org/)

  2. Abramowitz, J.S. (2018). Getting Over OCD: A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life. Guilford.

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