How to Cure OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is one of the most common mental disorders in the world today. It affects millions of people in the United States alone. Although it is not really a very serious illness, it is advised by many experts that affected individuals seek the help of psychologists and psychiatrists to cure OCD.

OCD cure would depend on how much the disorder affects the normal, everyday function of the individual. Definitely, the treatment will involve either behavioural therapy or medication, or both.

Behavioural therapy is perhaps the most preferred OCD cure by experts. This involves altering or modifying the behaviour of the affected individual through a series of procedures. The most important of this kind of therapy is the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This involves repeated and gradual exposure of the affected individual to the situation which causes or triggers obsessive thoughts. This is also referred to as ‘Exposure and Response Prevention’. For example, a person who is obsessed with the fear of germs is told to hold or touch a door handle, and then is refrained to wash his hands.

The said ‘stimulus-response’ activity is repeated over and over again until the intrusive thoughts are brought under control. The number of hours needed for the procedure to take effect depends on the severity of the disorder. For mild cases, it usually takes only two to three hours a day. If, for instance, the patient exhibits more serious signs of OCD, he will be exposed to lighter obsessions initially. Later, once these obsessions are overcome, the psychiatrist will then move on to more difficult obsessions, those which cause tremendous stress to the patient. It takes 10 hours for the desired effect to start showing.

Although it may sound hard to believe, exposing the OCD patient to the cause of his compulsions will actually reduce his obsessive and repulsive thoughts almost in an instant. Studies reveal that this particular activity actually reprograms the mind and effectively reduces the OCD-related actions of the patient.

The cognitive therapy is also related to behavioural therapy in that it doesn’t involve the use of medications. Cognitive therapy is an OCD cure which focuses on the fatalistic thoughts and the hyperbolic feeling of responsibility the OCD patient feels. Part of this treatment involves teaching the patient ways of dealing with the exaggerated thoughts without resorting to compulsions.

The other type of OCD cure is medication. Medication is only resorted to by patients and specialists in the worst-case scenarios when merely behavioural therapy is no longer applicable. One medicine that can be taken to cure OCD is the Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI). These medicine boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin (which is responsible for the feeling of anxiety) in order to normalize mental functions. The patients will be required to take this medicine from 3-12 months. After this period, a mental clinic will evaluate the patient’s condition, and will determine whether or not medications should be halted. Of course, as in any other chemical medicine, there are side effects. Among them are constant headaches and the feeling of sickness on regular basis.