Hi all! Hope you have read my previous blog post “OCD: An Overview”. Today we will learn on how OCD can be prevented, managed and treated. Let us see the various ways in which OCD can be prevented:

OCD Prevention

  • Learn good coping skills to different life transitions
  • Maintain a good lifestyle, balanced diet and exercise regime
  • Take things with ease, in a cool and composed manner. Do not get overly stressed out or too much anxious on things and situations
  • De-stressing exercises, anti-anxiety exercises, meditation, mindfulness meditation, hobbies, walking, socializing are some of the good ways of keeping unnecessary and unwanted thoughts at bay.
  • Routine health check-up of oneself and family
  • Living a moment/day at once and not getting worried about the future/unknown
  • Abstinence from too much alcohol etc
  • A healthy balance of physical, mental and social life.

It is normal to wash hands if they are dirty, it is normal to double-check door locks and electric switches…but if you tend to overdo it again and again, then it can paralyze your daily life-functioning. The major problem in OCD is to break free from the shackles of compulsions. Paying heed to the orders of obsessions and doing compulsions repetitively can crumple your energy levels, physiological functioning, mental equilibrium, social life and your life as a whole. That is why it is very important to recognize OCD and take proper treatment for it right from its very inception. Following are some of the management and treatment techniques used for OCD. They are best effective when imparted by a mental health practitioner. Once you start the treatment regime for OCD under the supervision of your mental health professional, then you can start with some self-help techniques too.

Treatment Interventions in OCD

  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy: The best therapy technique for OCD by far. You can opt for CBT in a face-to-face setting or on a virtual basis too. If you are a working professional, stay in a remote area, want to avoid unnecessary discomfort of traveling then you can opt for online/virtual CBT. CBT helps you with reconstruction of adaptive forms of thinking and behavior. It works in an all-round way.
  • Cognitive Therapy: Cognitive therapy is also a widely used technique. It is effective in mild to moderate levels of OCD.
  • ERP or Exposure and Response Prevention: This is like a switch on-off technique. In this form of therapy your therapist would expose you to the source of your obsession repeatedly and you would need to refrain or abstain from your compulsion/compulsive act.
  • Pharmacological Interventions: In some cases pharmacological treatment or medications are also necessary. Usually anti-anxiety and anti-obsessional medications are prescribed after in-depth symptom evaluation, assessment and diagnosis.
  • Milieu Therapy: It is a form of group therapy. It is done in group settings only after your consent.

If you know what to do in the right way and at the right time then neither OCD nor any other ailment can bother you and hinder your healthy living. So keep yourself calm, cool and composed; psycho-educate yourself and march forward in each and every step of your life. Best Wishes, Sareeta