We recently learned of a web resource that provides helpful information for individuals with OCD who are also fighting substance abuse and addiction. Researchers have found that as many as 3 million adults may have OCD at a single time. Many people suffering from OCD attempt to alleviate their anxieties with drugs or alcohol and can often develop a co-occurring substance abuse disorder.
Here’s the website:
By Melanie Lefebvre
The media perpetuates stereotypes about OCD. This, we know. Take Khloe Kardashian and her “KHLO-C-D” video segments. Hollywood Life is all over it, quoting a snippet from her video on how she organizes her closet:
“All my shirts are long-sleeves but they go in order — so this is my black section, and then I go from color, so I always end with black and I start with white. This whole side is my colored leggings, whatever, which is grays, prints — I try to also put them in order of length.”
Hollywood Life comments, “Wow, now that is serious OCD!” then asks its readers to weigh in: “What do you guys think of this video? Are you as impressed as we are with Khloe?”
Let’s pause. They are impressed with “serious OCD.” When OCD becomes severe, it sometimes requires intensive therapy like residential treatment programs.
And then there’s some doctors:
Me: I think I might have OCD.
Doctor: Do you wash your hands for hours every day?
Me: No.
Doctor: Do you constantly need to line things up perfectly?
Me: No.
Doctor: You don’t have OCD.
(I have OCD.)
I may as well have spoken with someone in the waiting room. He gave the impression that OCD is one of two very specific things and that those two very specific things are all-consuming. That dialogue occurred years ago yet I still hear about similar encounters within the medical profession today.
Something’s gotta give.
Thankfully, websites like Intrusive Thoughts and The Secret Illness have our back!
Some people are aware that OCD can involve a fear of their home burning down and that people may check the stove as a result. But what about taking appliances to work in an attempt to prevent a house fire?
The Secret Illness has a gamut of examples from real people across the globe describing the variations that OCD can take. One contributor shares how she brought her straightener to work with her for reassurance that it wasn’t plugged in at home.
The words, “I fear I could harm someone I love” show up in bold, large lettering as you explore Intrusive Thoughts.
Still impressed, Hollywood Life?
You might be wondering, why is someone with OCD worrying about whether they’ll harm someone? How does this have anything to do with OCD?
OCD is not as mysterious as some think. The pattern is this:
Obsessive Thought –> Anxiety –> Compulsion –> Temporary Relief
Sure, it can be hand washing:
Obsessive Thought (What if I get sick) –> Anxiety (heart racing, panicky) –> Compulsion (washing my hands) –> Temporary Relief (good I don’t feel as anxious anymore)
But what if I didn’t wash my hands enough and I get sick…?
And the cycle repeats.
It can be fear of harming someone:
Obsessive Thought (what if I stab my husband while chopping these vegetables?) –> Anxiety (heart racing, panicky) –> Compulsion (put the knife away, check that the knives are all put away) –> Temporary Relief (good I don’t feel as anxious anymore)
But what if I stab him with the letter opener…?
And the cycle repeats.
OCD latches onto our values, to what’s near and dear to us. It can touch on anything from religion to relationships and everything in-between. That’s why it may give the illusion that it’s complicated. That’s why people may say, “I just don’t get it.”
When this happens, return to the cycle:
Obsessive thought –> Anxiety –> Compulsion –> Temporary Relief
That’s OCD. Right there.
http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/03/22/khloe-kardashian-fitness-closet-organization-watch-organize/
Hi, my name is Bowen. I’ve suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for over 5 years now. I had to give up my dream, my school, my hobbies and more to this horrific yet underrated disease. So as I recover, I decided to use my own experiences to help others suffering from the same disease or basically all mental illnesses. The current issue with the way major mental health foundation is that they don’t use the power of Internet to the full extent. Often, they have websites with bad design and no online events at all. Some of them joined social media but still try to raise awareness through the old-fashioned way. So that’s why started OCD Acceptance, using my programming and technology skills, I’m taking the advantage of Internet to help as many people out there as I can.
This blog post is based on a paper I recently published with my colleagues at MGH, in which we described the rationale and the procedures for conducting cognitive therapy in the treatment of OCD. My goal for this post is to briefly describe the similarities and differences between cognitive therapy (CT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP), and explain how it can be used in the treatment of unwanted taboo thoughts.
ERP and CT are both evidence-based psychological treatments for OCD. Both are cognitive-behavioral treatments for OCD, which have garnered significant research support for their efficacy and effectiveness. Despite this, ERP and CT have slightly different explanations for how they are thought to improve OCD symptoms. ERP is based on the theoretical principle that avoidance behaviors and compulsive rituals (that aim to provide relief from anxiety in the short-term) interfere with people’s ability to learn safety and tolerate uncertainty. As a result, ERP relies on the use of exposures, which are designed to help patients confront their feared situations. In contrast, CT is based on cognitive models of OCD, which propose that maladaptive beliefs and interpretations about one’s unwanted intrusive thoughts play a role in the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms. As a result, CT relies on the use of behavior experiments, which are designed to gather information and test hypotheses about feared consequences. Whereas exposures are thought to work by helping patients habituate to anxiety levels, behavior experiments are thought to work by helping patients evaluate and challenge their faulty thinking. Thus, in theory, exposures and behavior experiments diverge on the basis of the proposed mechanism of action underlying OCD symptom improvement. In practice, however, I often find it to be the case that patients challenge their thinking through both behavior experiments and exposures, which explains why some clinicians use the terms exposures and behavior experiments synonymously.
For treating unwanted taboo thoughts in OCD, CT offers an important treatment alternative for patients who are unwilling to do exposures. CT strategies involve a systematic approach to identifying faulty thinking patterns that are labeled as OCD, as well as steps to evaluate their validity and generate more balanced beliefs. These techniques include the courtroom technique, continuum strategy, role plays, conducting a survey, consulting an expert, and downward arrow exercise. Why the emphasis on changing thoughts? It is a core tenet of CT that thoughts impact feelings (e.g., anxiety) and ultimately people’s behaviors. Many of my patients have experienced unwanted, intrusive, taboo thoughts about saying or doing something morally or sexually inappropriate, or accidentally hurting (emotionally or physically) others or loved ones. One of my patients had fears about being a pedophile even though she was completely disgusted by the thought and would never hurt a child. We conducted behavior experiments to test out her predictions about what would happen (and whether she could tolerate her anxiety) if she were to look at small children in the eyes, or even babysit for her nephews and nieces. Another one of my patients believed that his rituals prevented bad things from happening to his family, so we conducted a behavior experiment to curse a family member during one of our sessions while withholding rituals. In addition to a line of questioning in our sessions about how could he possibly hold such power and responsibility for preventing harm, he was able to reframe his thinking to let go of his rituals. Although taboo thoughts are sometimes the hardest to let go, they are totally treatable, and CT strategies are a highly therapeutic treatment alternative or complement to ERP.
For more information about CT for OCD, please see our original article:
Berman, N. C., Fang, A., Hansen, N., & Wilhelm, S. (2015). Cognitive-based therapy for OCD: Role of behavior experiments and exposure process. Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, 6, 158-166.