Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by unreasonable fears or phobias that cause a person to engage in compulsive behaviors to reduce or relieve their anxiety. OCD ranges from mild to severe and can be accompanied by other mental health problems. Treatment of OCD can be difficult, especially if the person is not looking for help. Psychiatrists use a variety of drugs and methods to treat people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD patients can also do some things like journaling, joining a support group, and using relaxation techniques to cope with OCD. If you think you may have OCD, seek professional help from a mental health professional. Read on to learn how to deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Seek Help To Dealing With OCD

1. 

   
   
   Seek professional diagnosis. Even if you suspect that you have OCD, never diagnose yourself. A mental health diagnosis can be quite complicated and must be done by a mental health professional.
   • If you are unable to deal with obsessive or compulsive issues, consider seeking a psychiatrist or psychiatrist for diagnosis and treatment.
   • Get referrals from your doctor if you don't know where to start.

2. 

   
   
   Consider psychotherapy. Psychotherapy for OCD involves talking to your therapist about your phobias, anxiety, and compulsive behaviors through regular appointments with your doctor. While psychotherapy may not cure OCD, it is a helpful way to manage the symptoms of OCD and reduce the level of expression. This therapy only cures in about 10% of cases, but is capable of improving symptoms in 50-80% of patients. Therapists and counselors use different methods when working with OCD patients.
   • Some therapists use exposure therapyAccordingly, patients are gradually exposed to the conditions most disturbing to them, such as intentionally not washing their hands after touching the doorknob. The therapist will work with the patient in this way until the patient's anxiety level begins to decrease.
   • Some doctors use therapy imaginary exposureThat is, using short descriptions to simulate situations that cause the client's greatest anxiety. The purpose of visual exposure therapy is to help the patient learn how to manage anxiety about a situation and be less sensitive to the triggers of anxiety.

3. 

   
   
   Consider taking prescription medications. Many prescription medications have been shown to be effective in alleviating obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors associated with OCD. Remember that medication only treats the symptoms and doesn't really cure the disorder, so it's best to combine the use with talk therapy to treat OCD rather than just medication. Some medications include:
   • Clomipramine (Anafranil)
   • Fluvoxamine (Luvox CR)
   • Fluoxetine (Prozac)
   • Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva)
   • Sertraline (Zoloft)

4. 

   Build a strong support system to help you cope with OCD. Although many people believe that the cause of OCD is a malfunction in the patient's brain, it's important to know that OCD is often triggered by trauma, or even a series of stressful events. straight in life. Experiences such as the death of a loved one, losing an important job or being diagnosed with a serious illness can all cause stress and anxiety.For some people, these stresses and anxieties can cause an urge to control certain areas of life that may seem trivial to others.
   • Strive for a supportive social system in which your past experiences are worthy of respect.
   • Be with sympathetic people. It has been shown that feeling supported by others is an important factor in promoting general mental health.
   • Find ways to spend as much time as possible with the people you care about. If you feel that the people you often meet have not provided adequate support, you should consider looking to the OCD support group in your area. These encounters are often free and can be a great way for you to start talking about your disorder to others who are supportive and are somehow familiar with the things. that you are going through.
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Method 2 of 3: Controlling OCD and Maintaining Positive

1. 

   Working with disruptors. Force yourself to pay more attention in situations where you are often obsessed with it. There are tips to help you feel more in control in situations, enough to prevent the stress from leading to this type of thinking and behavior.
   • For example, if you're constantly worrying about whether you've turned off the oven or not, imagine yourself turning off the oven each time. Creating this fantasy will help you remember that you actually turned the oven off.
   • If your visuals don't work, try leaving a notebook next to the oven and making notes on it every time you turn off the oven.

2. 

   Record your feelings in a journal. Journaling is a powerful tool for brooding your emotions and understanding yourself better. Take some time each day to sit down and write about experiences that cause you anxiety and grief. Describing and analyzing your obsessive thoughts on paper is a great way to feel like you have some degree of control over your phobias. Journaling can also help you make a connection between your anxiety and other ideas you have had or behaviors you have shown. Building this type of self-awareness can be a great tool to learn what types of situations have contributed to your obsessive-compulsive disorder.
   • Try describing your obsessive thoughts in one column, then classifying and rating your emotions in another. In the third column, you can paraphrase your obsessive thoughts for those feelings.
     • For example, imagine you have an obsessive thought like, “This pen is full of germs passed from strangers. I could get some terrible disease and infect my kids making them sick. ”
     • Next, you might react to that thought like, “If you know you could infect your baby without washing your hands, then I'm an irresponsible and terrible parent. If I don't do everything in my power to protect them, it will be as bad as harming my own children. ” Record and discuss both thoughts in your journal.

3. 

   Regularly remind yourself of your good qualities. Self-affirmation has been shown to be very effective in combating negative feelings. Don't constantly blame yourself or let OCD define your character. While it can sometimes be difficult to come out of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, don't forget that you are stronger than your situation.
   • Make a list of all the great qualities you have, and read it every time you feel down. Even just reading one of these qualities and looking at yourself in the mirror can increase positive feelings about yourself.

4. 

   Congratulate yourself when you reach your goal. It is important in treating OCD to set goals. Setting even small goals will give you something to look forward to and a reason to celebrate. Every time you achieve something that you never did before you started OCD, be proud and praise yourself.

5. 

   Take good care of yourself. While on OCD, it is important that you take good care of your body, mind, and soul. Go to the gym, foster your body with healthy food, get plenty of rest and nourish your soul by going to a temple or church service or doing other activities to calm your soul.

6. 

   Combine with relaxation techniques. OCD causes a lot of stress and anxiety. Medications and treatments can help alleviate some of the negative feelings, but it is also important to take time to relax each day. Combining activities like meditation, yoga, deep breathing, aromatherapy and a number of other calming techniques will help you cope with stress and anxiety.
   • Experiment with different relaxation techniques until you find one that works best for you, then stick to a daily schedule.

7. 

   Maintain a daily schedule. Dealing with OCD may make you want to skip your routine, but it really doesn't help. Apply your daily schedule and keep moving forward in life. Do not let the OCD prevent you from going to school, working or being with your family.
   • If you are anxious or afraid of certain activities, consult your therapist, but do not avoid these activities.
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Method 3 of 3: Understanding OCD

1. 

   Understand the signs of OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is disturbed by the intrusion and repetition of thoughts, impulses, and uncontrollable behaviors. These behaviors may interfere with a person's ability to function. OCDs may have symptoms like always washing their hands in a certain way, being constantly tempted to count things in front of them, or perhaps just a series of repetitive negative thoughts. couldn't help but shiver. People with OCD often have a pervasive and persistent sense of uncertainty and lack of control. Some behaviors related to OCD include:
   • Tested everything several times. This could be checking the door over and over, turning the lights on and off multiple times to make sure it's turned off, or generally repeating the same action. Usually, OCD people know that their obsession is unreasonable.
   • Obsession with hand washing or dirt / pollution. People with this phobia wash their hands immediately after touching anything they deem contaminated.
   • Intrusive thoughts. Some people with OCD suffer from intrusive thoughts that are irrelevant and stressful for the sufferer. Usually these thoughts are divided into three groups - thoughts of inappropriate violence, inappropriate sexual thoughts, and blasphemy religious thoughts.

2. 

   Understand patterns of obsession / stress / compulsion. People with OCD experience stress and anxiety when they are stimulated, so they feel compelled to follow certain behaviors. These behaviors temporarily relieve or alleviate their anxiety, but the cycle begins to repeat once the relief has expired. People with OCD may experience cycles of obsession, stress, and compulsion several times a day.
   • Stimulant. The stimulus can be internal or external, such as a thought or an experience. It could be a contaminated thought or a once stolen in the past.
   • Explain. OCD people translate their perceived stimuli into a serious and frightening thing. For the trigger that turns into an obsession, the OCD perceives it as a real and future danger.
   • Obsession / anxiety. If the OCD person perceives the stimulus to be a real threat, that causes a marked anxiety and over time an obsession with the thought or ability to have the thought is generated. For example, if you have the thought of being robbed leading to great fear and anxiety, the thought has the potential to become an obsession.
   • Coercion. Coercion is a habit or action you perform in response to the stress caused by the obsession. Phobias stem from the need to control certain aspects of your situation to help you feel in control of your fear or phobia.It could be checking the lights off less than five times, saying a self-devised prayer, or repeatedly washing your hands. You may find that you are advocating that the pressure from repeatedly checking the door lock is still less than the pressure about the robbery event you might endure.

3. 

   Know the difference between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Talking about OCD, many people think of being overly preoccupied with order and rules. While that tendency may be a manifestation of OCD, it is not necessarily diagnosed as OCD, unless those thoughts and behaviors are associated with undesirable preoccupation. On the other hand, this trend may be a manifestation of OCPD, a personality disorder characterized by patients with high personal standards and excessive attention to order and discipline.
   • Don't forget that not all OCD people have a personality disorder, but it is highly likely that OCD and OCPD will occur at the same time.
   • Many behaviors and thoughts associated with OCD are undesirable, so OCD typically has a higher degree of dysfunction than OCPD.
   • For example, OCD-related behaviors can interfere with the ability to ensure time, in rare cases even unable to leave the home. Invasive and sometimes vague thoughts, such as “what if I forgot something important at home this morning,” can cause harmful anxiety for the sick person. If a person has these types of behaviors and thoughts from an early age, he or she is more likely to have OCD than OCPD.

4. 

   Understand that there are many types and levels of OCD. In all cases of OCD, forms of the disorder develop in the person's thinking or behavior, which have markedly negative effects on their daily activities. Since the patterns associated with OCD are so diverse, it is probably better if OCD is understood to be part of the disorder rather than as a single disease. Symptoms may or may cause you to seek treatment or not, depending on whether or not they affect your daily life.
   • Ask yourself if that particular kind of thoughts and behaviors affect your life in a negative way. If the answer is yes, you should seek help.
   • Even though your OCD is mild and doesn't interfere with everyday life, you may still need help to keep it from becoming difficult to control. An example of the mildness of OCD is that you often have the urge to check the door lock even though you have repeatedly made sure the door is locked. Even if you don't act on these impulses, this behavior can distract you and make it difficult to focus on other activities in your life.
   • The line between OCD and the occasional irrational urge isn't always clear. You will have to decide whether to take the impulse so seriously that you need professional help.
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Advice

• Make sure to take the medication exactly as directed by your psychiatrist. Do not skip, discontinue or increase dosage without consulting your doctor.

Warning

• If your OCD symptoms worsen or return, talk to a psychiatrist right away.