What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is an anxiety disorder that contains two elements: Obsessions and compulsions (more on these below). OCD typically comes on in childhood or adolescence, and the average age of symptom development is 19 years old. The condition affects women more than men, but not by much.
There’s no known cause of OCD, but ongoing research has unearthed connections to genetics, brain function and structure, and environment.
What are the most common signs of OCD?
Since OCD includes two components, the following are lists of the most common red flags under each.
Obsessions
This side of OCD involves mental thoughts and images, as well as urges, that can include:
- Fear of contamination
- Fear of harm coming to loved ones or self
- Wanting to have things done “just right” in an extreme way
- An overriding need for organization or symmetry
- Intrusive forbidden thoughts, usually sexual or religious in nature
- Scrupulosity: an extreme obsession with morals, laws or rules. Feeling one has blasphemed or sinned or that they belong in jail
These thoughts can lead to excessive anxiety and disgust.
Compulsion
The compulsion side of the equation is the acting-out component, which can include:
- Repeated behaviors (washing your hands over and over, for example)
- Tics or uttering phrases repeatedly
- Constant cleaning
- Checking something excessively, like the stove or a locked door
- Ordering and rearranging to make things “just right”
- Avoidant behaviors
- Confessing sins repeatedly to an extreme
- Reassure seeking behaviors
- Extreme exercise
- Picking the skin, pulling out hair (Trichotellomania)
- Rereading email over and over
- Ruminating: going over a conversation over and over
If you’re displaying symptoms under both of these categories and you spend more than an hour a day embroiled in them, OCD may be at the heart of the problem. Meeting with the team at Hope Mental Health can help you control your OCD.
What treatments can help OCD?
The providers at Hope Mental Health have considerable experience with OCD in both kids and adults. In fact, Ms. Woodland is certified in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, which has been shown to greatly help people with OCD.
Through ERP, Ms. Woodland exposes you to the thoughts, images, or objects, that initiate your OCD behaviors and then teaches you how to choose not to engage in the behavior. This technique, over time, allows you to gain control over your OCD, removing its hold on your life.
For experienced and expert treatment of OCD, call Hope Mental Health or request a consultation using the online booking tool.
