Signs It’s Time to Seek OCD Treatment

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves three main components: obsessions, emotions, and compulsions.

An obsession is characterized as an intrusive, unwanted thought, image, and/or urge that occurs repeatedly and is out of a person’s control. These thoughts, images, and/or urges trigger significantly uncomfortable and distressing emotions–most notably anxiety and fear.

Compulsions are behaviors that a person feels they “must do” in order to get rid of the distressing thought, image, and/or urge or to prevent something bad from happening. These obsessions and compulsions are very time-consuming and can cause impairment in day-to-day functioning.

When conceptualizing obsessions, it’s important to remember that everyone has had intrusive or distressing thoughts, and sometimes they can occur more than once.

To be considered a true obsession, the thought, image, and/or urge must be persistent and interrupt other thoughts. Some examples of common obsessions may include:

• Thoughts, images, or urges of deliberately hurting yourself or others

• Fear of harming yourself or others by mistake (ex. setting the house on fire by forgetting to turn the oven off)

• Fear of contamination by disease, infection, or food (worry food is poisoned)

• Needing things to be “just right”, symmetric, or orderly (ex. wanting toys, labels, or other objects arranged in a specific way)

• Inappropriate thoughts, images, and/or urges of a sexual nature

• Wanting to do things correctly (ex. frequent erasing and rewriting of work or homework)

Compulsions are used to reduce or prevent distressing emotions, are often excessive, and are sometimes not rationally connected. One example of this is frequently checking the oven to ensure it is not on and will not start a fire if the worry is harming one’s family by mistake. Most people with OCD realize that such compulsive behavior is irrational and makes no logical sense, but they cannot stop acting on it and feel they need to do it “just in case”.

Some examples of common compulsions may include:

• Excessive washing/cleaning of hands, body, or objects

• Excessive checking (appliances, doors, etc.)

• Asking the same question repetitively (seeking reassurance)

• Erasing and redoing

• Counting

• Lucky numbers or words

• Ordering or arranging

• Hoarding

• Repeating words in their head

• Thinking “neutralizing” thoughts to replace or override the distressing thoughts

• Avoiding specific places or situations that may trigger a thought, image, or urge

Some of these behaviors may be easy to see and track, but others may be a bit more challenging to spot. Some other symptoms to be aware of that may point to OCD include:

• Excessive irritability, seemingly without reason

• Strict adherence to schedules or routines with severe emotional reactions when interrupted

• Long blocks of unexplained time

• Repetitive behaviors

• Questioning and self-judgment and frequently seeking reassurance

• Simple tasks taking longer than expected

• Frequent tardiness

• Indecisiveness

• Staying up late to get things done

If you or your partner, your kiddo, or a friend are noticing any of these signs, it may be worth it to seek an assessment to see if you would benefit from OCD treatment.

At Pacific Coast Therapy, many of our therapists are trained in a modality that is well-researched and shown to be successful in the treatment of OCD. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) can be successful in treating OCD by slowly exposing the person to their triggers and helping them to live with them without being overtaken by them. Other methods like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and using medication have also been researched and shown to be effective. Contact Pacific Coast Therapy today for more information about OCD treatment!