What To Do About the Obsessions Part of OCD - OCD Treatment

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

David: Here's an audience suggestion on how to effectively deal with obsessions:

matrix*: I tell someone I can trust to check something (the stove, bathtub water) so they can tell me it's really off, so I don't have to check it over and over. It helps a little.

Dr. Jenike: This is a bad idea! You are actually having someone else do checking for you.

David: Why is that a bad idea?

Dr. Jenike: If you transfer your OCD checking to someone else, you will never learn to cope with the OCD and habituate. It just makes OCD worse and often, eventually, can destroy a marriage and family. People resent this after awhile, and it can get way out of hand, to the point where family members will have to wash everytime they come into the house, or perform hours of checking rituals to keep the person with OCD from getting worked up. I see this all the time.

blair: I have to have constant auditory stimuli when I am at home (I live alone), e.g., stereo, TV, etc., to lessen my obsessive thoughts. I do this instead of dealing with the problem. I even go to sleep with the TV on. Is this advisable?

Dr. Jenike: This works for some people, and I don't see anything wrong with it as long as they don't listen to Nine Inch Nails!

LanaT: Our seven year old has recently been diagnosed with OCD. We don't know exactly how long he has been having his fears, but some of the symptoms we recently learned about, we recall from as early as two. We are curious to know if this is all he has ever known (life with fears), will he be able to gain the intellect to distinguish the rational from the irrational?

Dr. Jenike: This is a very common situation. OCD has nothing to do with a problem with intellect. We have many geniuses (they probably could spell this word) with OCD. It really has to do with a disassociation between thoughts and feelings. The prognosis is great now for kids with OCD. There are many great books out. You can This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it privately and I can dig out some of the titles. He really needs to see a good child CBT expert and may need medications. It is important, in kids this age, to be aware of an occasional relationship between strep infections and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If he got OCD, or it worsens when he gets a strep infection, he needs very aggressive antibiotic therapy.

Dr. Sue Swedo at NIMH in Bethesda, MD has a number of research protocols for kids with OCD that may be caused by strep and she will sometimes fly kids there.

David: What can happen when a child with OCD develops strep?

Dr. Jenike: The OCD can worsen. Strep can induce the body to produce antibodies against kidney, heart (rheumatic fever), and also against a part of the brain called the caudate. These antibodies attack that part of the brain in susceptible individuals, and this part of the brain is involved in producing OCD symptoms. We, and others have done a lot of neuroimaging studies implicating the caudate, orbital frontal cortex, and other areas with OCD symptoms.

Kerri20: Hello, Dr Jenike!! I actually attended your OCD Institute at Mclean Hospital about four months ago and I must say that the therapy helped me out a great deal. I have learned many useful things there and the doctors and staff are wonderful! I would definitely recommend the program to all!!

Dr. Jenike: Glad the OCD Institute helped. How much do I owe you for the plug! Keep up the great work!

Luckydogs9668007: Dr. Jenike, I am currently on Luvox and I haven't seen any improvement. How long should I give my medication to lessen my OCD.

Dr. Jenike: For Luvox (fluvoxamine) you should be on 300 mg (if tolerated) for about three months before giving up on it and trying something else. Again, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is the most effective treatment for OCD that we have. So be sure you are getting CBT along with medication.

stan.shura: Do you have any advice on dealing with the uncertainty? I have a series of compulsions, rituals. For example, during my bathroom routine, I find that after I've "settled" into bed, I have to go back and check to make sure I did A, B, and C.

Dr. Jenike: Yes, none of us can be certain of anything! Why should you be more certain than me that the door is locked or the stove is off. The treatment for OCD is not to come up with a way to be more certain, but to learn to live with the natural uncertainty of life. You should not check and the uncomfortable feelings will lessen over time. Again, medications may help. Checking, actually feeds the obsessional part of your brain and keeps it alive and well to torment you daily or nightly! Another book that helps some people with this is Brainlock. So, read Getting Control and this book for similar approaches that may help.