Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment

Psychologist

Mark Sykes BPsych(Hons), MBus, GradDip(Quality), BSc, CMC, Assoc MAPS is a psychologist who specialises in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Phone 0416157751 or (07) 3102 3486 for an appointment in Brisbane. Bulk billing is available to pensioners, health care holders and clients experiencing financial distress.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be a difficult condition to treat. Current evidence indicates that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most effective non-pharmacuetical treatment for OCD. Cognitive behavioural therapy is currently approved by Medicare Australia and is eligible for a Medicare rebate.

What is OCD

People with OCD experience repeated obsessions and / or compulsions that interfere with their ability to function socially, occupationally, or academically, either as a result of the amount of time that is consumed by the OCD activities or the fear and distress suffered by the person.

Obsessions and compulsions

Obsessions and compulsions are like a pigeon pair. That is you can have them separately like a refrigerator and a freezer but generally if you have one there is a good chance that you have the other.

Obsessions

Obsessions are thoughts, images, or impulses that occur repeatedly and they feel out of the person's control.

The person does not want to have these ideas.

He or she finds them disturbing and unwanted, and usually knows that they don't make sense.

They come with uncomfortable feelings, such as shame, fear, disgust, doubt, or a feeling that things have to be done in a way that it feels "just right."

Obsessions take up a lot of time and get in the way of important and daily activities.

Compulsions

Compulsions are repetitive behaviours or thoughts that a person engages in to neutralise, counteract, or make their obsessions go away.

People with OCD realize this is only a temporary solution, but without a better way to cope they use compulsion as a temporary relief.

Compulsions can also include avoiding situations that trigger obsessions.

Compulsions are time consuming and get in the way of important and daily activities.

Diagnosing OCD

Descriptions and labels for psychological conditions shift and change over time but currently the label obsessive compulsive disorder is used to group a set of behaviours and beliefs that help us recognise and treat this common problem.

OCD is just a special form of anxiety disorder. In summary OCD is an anxiety disorder characterised by complaints of persistent or repetitive thoughts (obsessions) or behaviours (compulsions). The person feels compelled to continue despite an awareness that the thoughts or behaviours may be excessive or inappropriate, and feels distress if they stop them. Note that OCD does not leave the sufferer with a sense of pleasure or gratification which would be more like an addiction.

Like wizards, psychologists have a number of special books from which they gain their wisdom. The book of diagnosis is currently either the American DSM-IV-TR or the European ICD-10. The DSM-IV-TR will soon be replaced by the DSM-5 which has included some changes to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria.

Before you attempt to label yourself consider whether you actually have a problem. That is if your obsessions and compulsions don't impact your life and you and your family can live with them without conflict then it is all OK. However if you are unsure or have concerns you can contact me to have a chat. You can find the diagnostic criteria for the DSM-IV-TR here and the ICD-10 here.

Treatment options

OCD has been around for quite a while and many treatments have been developed. The three main options available today are counselling, medication and a combination of both. Broadly speaking medication and counselling are equally effective. When combined the recovery tends to last longer than just medication.

Counselling

There are many treatments being offered for OCD by counsellors, psychologists and alternative specialists. Some of these treatments include hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). None of these alternative approaches have really shone through in the academic literature and the facts indicate that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and its closely related siblings including exposure response prevention (ERP) is currently the only real game in town. CBT is not for everyone and it can be very challenging. On the upside it is fairly quick and on average it works better than the other counselling approaches.

Medication

If you want to know about taking medication I am afraid you have to learn a little jargon. OCD Drugs fall into two types - the SRIs or the SSRIs. The newer SSRIs have side-effects that are better tolerated. Your GP or psychiatrist is the best person to consult about medication but I have included a more extensive breakdown for pharmacological treatments for OCD. It is deliberately rather academic and technical as medication for OCD is not clear-cut and is a very complex area. There are a number of alternative herbal remedies for OCD but these are drugs too and consultation with your GP is highly recommended when combining pharmacological and herbal approaches.