OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes repetitive behaviors that you develop to control persistent unwanted thoughts. If you spend too much time trying to manage your obsessions with compulsive behaviors, talk to Careen Tetuh, PMHNP-BC, at Psych Health and Wellness, PLLC, in Katy, Texas. She provides talk therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that help you overcome your obsessions and compulsions. Release the hold OCD has on your life, and seek help from Psych Health and Wellness, PLLC, today by calling the office or booking an appointment online.

What is OCD?

OCD is a distressing mental health condition that causes you to experience persistent, unwanted thoughts and feelings (obsessions). Your obsessions can be so troubling you create routines and habits to manage them. These habits develop into repetitive actions and rituals (compulsions).

Many people have obsessive or compulsive tendencies that don’t interfere with their lives. Preferring a neat, orderly desk or arranging your clothes by color doesn’t mean you have OCD. If you do have OCD, the unwanted thoughts are present most or all of the time and cause significant anxiety.

The compulsive behaviors you develop act as a coping mechanism for managing your obsessive thoughts; however, being unable to complete your rituals can end up causing even more distress.

What obsessions and compulsions are most common?

Some of the most common obsessions include infection, contamination, symmetry, and precision. You might compulsively clean your home and body if your obsession centers on germs and dirt. People obsessed with order and neatness feel compelled to have everything around them in the right place.

Obsessions can focus on anything that grabs your attention, but with OCD, obsessions are frequently frightening, unpleasant, and out of character. They might revolve around subjects like sexual acts, violence, or religious ideas.

Compulsions come in many forms but often involve repetitive actions. For example, you might have to turn a light switch on and off a specific number of times or open and close the door repeatedly before leaving a room. Germ obsessions might make you wash your hands so often the skin dries out and bleeds.

Some people with OCD can’t recognize their problem even when faced with the evidence. Others acknowledge their behaviors are harmful but feel powerless to stop them.

How is OCD treated?

Psych Health and Wellness, PLLC offers several treatments that can help patients with OCD. Talk therapy can be invaluable in helping you find the underlying reasons why you developed OCD, which could be a traumatic experience in your past or something about your school life or upbringing that made you vulnerable to OCD.

Therapy can also help you understand your OCD and how to manage it in your daily life. You might benefit from medications like anti-anxiety drugs to reduce the severity of your negative feelings.

For effective relief from OCD, call Psych Health and Wellness, PLLC, today or book an appointment online.