OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is a disorder that is anxiety based. Making up the disorder are obsessions (thoughts) and compulsions (activities).

The obsessions can be recurring thoughts and images, for example thinking that you are dirty or contaminated in some way, imagining that you are covered in dirt or germs, and the compulsion would be an action that you feel compelled to do to make things feel ok again and reduce the distress associated with the obsessive thought. For example; excessive washing to make yourself clean and ‘de-contaminated’. This is just one example of OCD, there are many, but all follow a similar pattern; the distress caused by the obsessive thought is diffused in some way by a compulsive act.

The problem occurs in OCD when the obsessive thoughts become distressing to such an extent that they affect our mood and level of functioning, and when the things we feel we have to do to compensate start to take over our lives and take a significant amount of time in our day to complete. For example; excessive hand-washing leading to damaged skin, or having to check the house is locked up or switches are off takes hours not seconds. If any of this sounds familiar to you, you may feel quite alone in your difficulties, or even that what you have to do is ridiculous, but you just can’t seem to stop it, and as time goes on it becomes harder and harder to do this alone.

The best way to work with OCD difficulties is to start by unpicking the original anxiety and to work on challenging the thoughts and managing the distress as well as tackling the unwanted compulsive behaviour. Evidence suggests that Cognitive Behavioural therapy can be extremely effective with OCD. With your therapist you would look at the thoughts (cognitions) that are distressing you, as well as working out any patterns or cycles that might be keeping these going, alongside giving you strategies and ways of dealing with the anxiety and emotional difficulties that may go along with the thoughts. What we would also do is ERP or Exposure Response Prevention work, which would work on the compulsions or behaviours that you feel you have to do. We would work together to gradually reduce the behaviours; testing out using them less and less until you don’t need to do them at all. This again has been shown to be an incredibly effective way of tackling OCD.

If you feel that you may need support in tackling OCD then get in touch using the Contact Us page.