How to Manage OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common, chronic, and lifelong mental disorder which affects thought patterns and behaviors of the sufferer. This mental illness affects about 2.2 million American adults. It is characterized by involuntary, recurring, obsessive thoughts, ideas or sensations and repetitive, compulsive behaviors. These obsessions and compulsions can have a disruptive effect on person’s quality of life and overall well-being.

What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which sufferers have recurrent obsessions (thoughts, urges, or mental images) that sufferer can’t control, or compulsions (behaviors) that sufferer feels compelled to repeat over and over.

OCD grounds the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or urge. For an example, you may check the gas stove 30 times in a day to ensure it’s actually turned off because you’re scared of burning down your house, or wash your hands again and again until they’re scrubbed raw for fear of germs. While you don’t derive any sense of pleasure from performing these repetitive behaviors, they may offer some passing relief for the anxiety generated by the obsessive thoughts.

Signs and Symptoms of OCD

People who have obsessive-compulsive disorder may have two main types of symptoms obsessions and compulsions. Many people living with OCD experience both obsessions and compulsions. Symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe, and usually get worse during times of stress.

Common obsessions come in themes which include:

• Excessive fear of germs, contamination or dirt
• Need to arrange objects in a specific manner or symmetry
• A need to be perfect
• Fears of misplacing or throwing out something important
• Doubting and having difficulty tolerating uncertainty
• Unwanted, forbidden, or taboo thoughts about sex, religion, or harm
• Aggressive or horrific thoughts about losing control and harming yourself or others.
• Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky.

The above obsessions lead to compulsions. Common compulsions include:

• Excessively cleaning or washing your hands
• Ordering or arranging objects in a specific manner or symmetry
• Repeatedly checking on certain things, such as doors are locked or that the appliances are off
• Compulsively counting
• Following a strict routine, such as silently repeating a prayer, word or phrase
• Demanding reassurance
• Praying excessively or engaging in rituals triggered by religious fear

These recurring behaviors, rituals, routines or mental acts are destined to reduce anxiety related to your obsessions or prevent something dreadful from happening.

You may or may not realize that your obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable, but they take up a great deal of time and interfere with your daily routine and social, school or work functioning.

People with OCD may also have tics — brief, sudden, repetitive movements or actions, like:

• Blinking their eyes
• Grunting
• Shrugging their shoulders
• Sniffling their nose or clearing their throat
• Cleaning face with hands
• Jerking their head

Causes of OCD

Common causes of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are

• Genetics
• Brain Structure
• Early Childhood Trauma
• Childhood Streptococcal Infections

How to manage OCD?

Here are the coping tips on how to manage Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Seek professional help

Whether you’re dealing with a simple but annoying fixation or full-blown OCD, seek professional help if you’re experiencing any distress; so that you can learn develop positive coping skills for what you’re experiencing. A  trained therapist in treating OCD and ERP (exposure and response prevention) Therapy can be particularly helpful.

Meditation

Many people suffering with OCD find relief through meditation. Meditation (along with other therapies and/or medication) can be an effective way to manage OCD thoughts or urges and the distress that comes with them. Meditation is a wonderful anxiety and stress-relieving strategy.

Mindfulness

The benefits of Mindfulness are well documented. Mindfulness may help with negative self-talk and obsessive behaviors. Through mindfulness practice, you will be able to identify the triggers—the thoughts or situations—that bring on your obsessions and compulsions. You will be able to pay attention to the thoughts, sensations, fears, anxiety, and worries that are passing through your mind. Recognize the intensity of the fear or anxiety you experienced in each situation and then the compulsions or mental strategies you used to ease your anxiety.

Keeping track of your triggers can help you anticipate your urges. And by anticipating your compulsive urges before they arise, you can help to ease them.

Face your Fears

The only way to overcome a fear is to face it.  If you want to recover, you will have to do this. You can’t run away from your own thoughts, so you really have no choice but to face them.

Find every opportunity to face situations related to your OCD that cause you discomfort. When you face your fear and overcome that, your confidence boosts. If you look back after accepting the situation, you will find that fear was not real. After some time, you will find the same situations are no longer challenging. It was virtual in your thoughts. The real situation is not that negative as you perceived.

Don’t be Perfectionist

Do not run towards perfectionism in everything. Maladaptive/Unhealthy Perfectionism play a role in the development and maintenance of OCD. Perfectionism may tie you to a need for certainty. You may feel or urge that your compulsions have to be done in exactly the right way. You may start believing that if the compulsion is carried out perfectly, a feared outcome will be avoided.

Perfectionism also increases the checking OCD symptoms. Specifically, if you do not feel you have perfect certainty that you have locked the door or turned off the stove, you might return to check these items over and over again.

Be Positive

Try to be positive in every situation. Positive attitude and being optimist help a lot in overcoming negative feelings (obsessions) or urges (compulsions). When faced with a challenging situation or an unexpected challenging assignment, try to look at the positives in that. View that difficult situation as another opportunity to get better.

Learn to manage compulsions

The compulsions may feel effective because it will give you a temporary relief from anxiety.  When the intrusive thoughts return and you feel anxious again, you realize that the compulsions feed the OCD mind, strengthen the OCD cycle, and make the recovery unattainable.

Searching on the internet for reassuring that outcome will not be negative; responding intrusive thoughts through repetitive positive-affirmations; avoidance behavior or procrastination are some of the compulsions that would be reinforcing the OCD. These compulsions can be so subtle that even those around you can fall into its trap.

Remember that in OCD, the problem is not the anxiety — the problem is the compulsions. When you learn to manage compulsions, you are one step closer managing the symptoms of OCD and regaining your sense of power.

Over to You

I hope, if you will use above tips and strategies to deal with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD); you will surely be able to manage this mental illness in a better way.

That’s all from my side. I hope, you liked this article on mental health. Please share this on your favorite social media portals with your friends and relatives.

(Disclaimer: This article is for general information only. Before adopting preventive methods/measures/treatment, please seek medical advice.)