Clinical Psychological Science. Stein, D. Depression and Anxiety, 27 , You must be logged in to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Physical symptoms are not a requirement for an OCD diagnosis.
Both OCD and anxiety can be treated with a form of cognitive behavior therapy. CBT is an umbrella term to describe types of evidence-based therapies that are rooted in the idea that the way a person behaves and feels is influenced, at least in part, by their thoughts.
ERP specifically focuses on targeting the obsessions and compulsions the patient is experiencing. During treatment, a patient works with a therapist to slowly expose themselves to the source of their obsession — without performing a compulsive action. For some people with OCD, reassurance seeking can be a compulsion meant to soothe or solve obsessive thoughts. In ERP treatment, the goal would be to avoid this reassurance and manage the discomfort that comes as a result.
However, when treating GAD, it may be a helpful part of treatment for individuals to examine evidence and challenge their thoughts or to get feedback about specific anxieties. Keara E. We can extend this example to other anxiety disorders: in a case of social anxiety disorder, the source of threat is judgement and evaluation from others.
A person may have recurrent thoughts about this but typically engages in avoidance of these situations rather than in compulsive behaviors that are disconnected with the fear. In generalized anxiety disorder, a person is likely to have recurrent and persistent thoughts about a variety of things, yet these are categorized as ruminations. If the person has compulsions, then this may warrant a separate diagnosis of OCD Table.
Jamie is having recurring thoughts about harming herself and others. She is terrified to go near knives, for fear that she will hurt someone. She is extremely distressed about these thoughts and seeks reassurance to confirm that she has not hurt anyone from her mother multiple times a day.
Danielle has suffered from OCD symptoms for years. She is now presenting with significant symptoms of depression and is having thoughts about harming herself.
She is distressed about the fact that she is having suicidal ideation and hates that she is having so much trouble finding a reason to live. Both Jamie and Danielle present with thoughts about harming themselves, and in both cases, these thoughts are distressing. The differential that we are considering is whether these thoughts are intrusive thoughts consistent with OCD, or true suicidal ideation. Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts that a person does not agree with. Jamie is having thoughts about harming others even though she absolutely does not want to, and she is even horrified by the thought.
A person may have thoughts about sexual interest in children, even though he or she are not interested in children sexually. The thoughts are taken as truth and are often interpreted as holding significant meaning about the individual. With intrusive thoughts, a person often does not understand why they are having these thoughts. In contrast, Danielle is distressed about her thoughts of harming herself, but she is further distressed because she has some ego-syntonic desire to harm herself.
Fears may also be ego-syntonic. A fear of being stabbed by an intruder is consistent with what a person wants: a desire to prevent being stabbed. In many cases, this would be categorized as a fear, and may be consistent with a phobia or anxiety disorder. CBT helps you identify patterns of thought that create anxiety, or amplify it, and adapt them so that, over time, those anxieties lessen. The CBT therapist can help you to think about yourself, the world and the things you obsess about in more healthful ways.
If you or someone you know is struggling with OCD, you can schedule a free call today with the NOCD clinical team to learn more about how a licensed therapist can help. Why NOCD? Usual vs. Unusual Worry But not all anxieties are created equal. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized anxiety disorder is excessive worry about multiple life-events or activities that is hard to manage and results in physical symptoms. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD is a mental health condition characterized by persistent and unwanted thoughts, images, urges or doubts obsessions that result in significant distress and repetitive behaviors, or rituals compulsions , to control the distress.
Symptoms of OCD include: Persistent unwanted thoughts, images and urges Attempts to control the thoughts with rituals Intrusive unwanted and come out of nowhere thoughts Time spent each day avoiding or preventing thoughts, images, or urges Thoughts, images, or urges are patterned around, or fixated on, a particular fear that does not align with who you are or what you know about yourself or the world OCD can only be diagnosed by a mental health professional. I think I might have OCD.
What now? If that is the case, there are a few steps you can take to find out for sure: Talk about your concerns with someone you trust: Sometimes the content of intrusive thoughts can feel scary, embarrassing or even shameful. That can make it difficult to reach out for help. A good starting place is to find someone in your life who you trust to share those concerns with.
The first step to getting help is getting around people who support your efforts. Some even have additional expertise in treating conditions related to OCD, such as trichotillomania, hoarding or excoriation.
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