OCD: Getting Control of Your Obsessions and Compulsions - Getting Control Over Obsessions and Compulsions

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

kimo23: Define Primary Obsessional Slowness, please and where information can be found on this type of OCD.

Dr. Baer: People with primary obsessional slowness do everything extremely slowly. They can get "stuck" in bathrooms for many hours at a time or in showers until all the hot water runs out. They usually describe not being able to start an action until it feels perfectly right. This problem does not respond to self-treatment and almost always requires medication in addition to behavior therapy. I talk about it in Getting Control

Slate: My husband has OCD. He is doing really well in terms of not acting out compulsions, as a result of some work with exposure and response prevention. But his obsessions often focus around flaws he sees in ME. For example, he recently told me that on our wedding day he was happy to be married, but he'd been distressed the whole day because he couldn't look at me without seeing a speck of dirt in my eye and he felt so horrible about thinking that when he was getting married.

David: I'm sure this is very tough to deal with. What suggestions would you have, Dr. Baer?

Dr. Baer: We are testing a new kind of treatment for OCD which is called cognitive therapy for OCD. It seems to be effective for the kinds of symptoms you describe about perfectionism. It involves having the person examine his thoughts for cognitive errors or distortions common in OCD. I included a chapter describing this technique in my book The Imp of the Mind along with a case illustration of this new technique.

David: I know it's getting late. Thank you, Dr. Baer, for being our guest tonight and for sharing this information with us. And to those in the audience, thank you for coming and participating. I hope you found it helpful. We have a very large and active community here at HealthyPlace.com. Also, if you found our site beneficial, I hope you'll pass our URL around to your friends, mail list buddies, and others. http://www.healthyplace.com.

Dr. Baer: The questions were excellent. I enjoyed participating.

David: Thanks again for coming, Dr. Baer. Good night, everyone.

Disclaimer: We are not recommending or endorsing any of the suggestions of our guest. In fact, we strongly encourage you to talk over any therapies, remedies or suggestions with your doctor BEFORE you implement them or make any changes in your treatment.

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