Have you ever felt that your worries were out of control, or at least out of proportion to their importance? Many of us go through stressful times with a lot on our minds. However, these thoughts can grow loud and become very stressful, both for the individual and their family and friends.
My favorite seminar from 2019 was about Obsessive Compulsive
Spectrum Disorders by Martin Antony. These include perfectionism, hypochondria/health anxiety, hoarding, body dysmorphic disorder, skin picking or hair pulling,
and traditional OCD behavior like checking and other compulsions.
These occur equally in men and women, but more often in teen boys than teen girls.
This is a very effective approach for my clients who have had health anxiety (hypochondria, worried about symptoms) as well as social anxiety (needing frequent reassurance, perfectionism).
Here’s how we look at these symptoms through his cognitive model of OCD:
1. All of us experience intrusive or repetitive thoughts.
2. Normal intrusive thoughts and obsessions are only different in how the individual interprets them.
3. Individuals with OCD interpret intrusive thoughts as indicating that they are responsible for the occurrence or prevention of harm to self and others (e.g., “My house will burn down” equals an increased risk of doing so, unless I take steps to prevent it).
4. Thought suppression and compulsive rituals help to maintain the problem.
So what do we do when suffering from these thoughts? Seminar takeaways:
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective counseling treatment. This includes:
– therapist assisted exposure to worries in session, and outside of the room as needed
– stricter prevention of rituals associated with worried thoughts
• CBT + a low dose SSRI (anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medicine like Prozac or Zoloft) are equally effective in the short term. However, CBT + SSRI is the most effective than medication alone.
• Mindfulness practices are helpful: Deliberately paying attention to experiences as they are, in the present and without evaluation
Cognitive Strategies for OCD
• Focus on challenging beliefs and interpretations, including meta- cognitions. (This means thoughts that we have about our worried thoughts.)
• Avoid challenging intrusive thoughts directly, providing excessive reassurance, etc.
Our practice’s primary treatment method is cognitive behavioral therapy. Let us know if you have any questions.
