Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment Approaches

As such, one finds themselves doing a repetitive behavior, such as washing hands, counting things and checking on things. Some OCD patients may find it difficult to throw things out of their lives (Swedo, Leckman&Rose, 2014). These activities consume an hour at the least of a person’s day. OCD can affect an individual’s daily routine and social interactions. Veale and Roberts (2014) link OCD to anxiety disorder, tics and a heightened risk of suicide. In very rare circumstances do OCD symptoms appear after the age of thirty-five, with 50% of the population developing the disease when they are below 20 years of age. OCD affects males and females almost equally (Veale et al. OCD is typically diagnosed during late childhood, in early adulthood and adolescence.

Whenever one feels that a person they love has OCD, then it is good to consult a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist then performs a physical examination to assess one’s overall health, followed by lab tests for alcohol, substance abuse as well as a psychological test to ascertain that someone suffers from OCD. Moreover, the SRIs may take between two and three months to start having effects. In some patients, OCD symptoms do not improve even after they take SRIs, and as such, should be given antipsychotics such as risperidone. Psychotherapy is another treatment option that is beneficial to both children and adults. Cognitive behavior therapy and other habit-reversal training can work as effectively as the OCD medication (Goodman et al. Whenever SRI or SSRI medication fails to work, the doctor prescribes exposure and response prevention as an add-on treatment.

Another example is when a person has the problem of checking the house lock several times after locking it. The goal, therefore, is to prevent them from going back a second time to check the door. After a while, the OCD patients start getting used to the anxiety caused by not repeatedly checking to establish whether they have closed the door. Another objective of OCD medication is finding a drug and therapy combination that helps the patient. For example, Gorman et al. 6% of the population. People associate OCD with mental health problems and most of the OCD patients experience symptoms of depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and social phobia. The underlying reason for this is that the diagnosis of OCD overlaps with other psychological disorders.

African Americans suffering from OCD report contamination symptoms at twice the rate European Americans do and aretwice as likely to express concerns about animals. According to Williams et al. However, researchers have not yet established whether substance abuse results from the OCD or traumatic events in childhood. There is also a link between socioeconomic events and OCD. People from lower socioeconomic classes are at a higher risk of developing OCD. Furthermore, changes in one’s living conditions, either positive or negative can affect OCD. One thing that is still unclear is whether belonging to a low socioeconomic class is what causes OCD, or whether OCD causes poor socioeconomic conditions (Veale et al. A person’s upbringing also determines whether they have OCD.

For example, if one’s parents periodically judged him/her as good or bad, one may have an overdeveloped feeling of right and wrong. Also, if someone did something wrong and was severely punished for it, then they might have created compulsions and obsessions to prevent them from doing that behavior. For example, a person may have unfounded fears that the house they live in will burn down if they leave (Goodman et al. If such a person sees a newspaper story about another person’s house that burned down, then their obsessive habit of checking whether the stove is off may intensify. Gorman, D. A. , & Abi-Jaoude, E. Obsessive–compulsive disorder. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 186(11), E435-E435. Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Veale, D.