Obsessive compulsive disorder affects about 3 percent of the population, and although it was once considered to be quite rare, it afflicts about one in 50 Americans as of 2010, according to psychologist Eda Gorbis, of the Westwood Institute for Anxiety Disorders. The main attributes of OCD are relentless, obsessive thoughts, usually combined with ritualistic, self-soothing behaviors, or compulsions, meant to relieve the thoughts. With cognitive behavioral treatment, dramatic reductions in symptoms are often noted.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is most often associated with the work of Dr. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, dating back to the 1970s. Besides medication, cognitive interventions are one of the most common ways to get OCD under control. Many therapists have expanded on previous OCD research and honed behavioral techniques useful for OCD sufferers.
Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring can facilitate greater levels of tolerance toward anxiety by making space for the discomfort and considering it as something to be managed, according to OCDOnline.com First, rate anxiety at any given time on a scale from 1 to 10. Describe the physical effects of the anxiety: rapid heart rate, sweating, shortness of breath, etc. Then assess the ability to tolerate this level of anxiety. For example, if the anxiety is just at a 5, you might reassess in half an hour. The goal is to try to manage higher levels of anxiety for longer periods.
Exposure and Response Prevention
Exposure and response prevention is successful about 80 percent of the time in reducing OCD symptoms, making it the most effective and well-researched treatment, according to BrainPhsyics.com. The goal of exposure and response prevention is to first expose the OCD sufferer directly to his anxiety-causing obsessions and then prevent him from performing a compulsion to relieve the anxiety.
Start Small and Work Up
Usually a therapist will start with a less distressing situation then work up to greater fears. The patient eventually learns that the obsessions are not harmful. There may be a spike in anxiety at first, yet most often, the anxiety diminishes over time, according to BrainPhsyics.com. Sometimes a therapist will prescribe medication that will help during the therapeutic process.
Diminish with Practice
"Choosing to expose oneself to the feared item without the escape response is the most critical component of the therapy," according to Dr. Steven Phillipson, Ph.D. When the brain eventually learns through experience that nothing horrible has occurred without performing compulsions, anxiety diminishes significantly.
