Anyone who suffers from OCD, or has a loved one that does, will know that it can be a devastating disorder to live with. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder that leads to uncontrollable and reoccurring thoughts and compulsions.
There are five main symptoms of OCD include:
- Fear of dirt
- Difficulty tolerating uncertainty
- Needing things to be orderly and perfect
- Aggressive and unwanted thoughts about losing control
- Harming yourself or others repeatedly
Luckily, there are some treatment options to help manage and control this disorder. If you have recently started a program to treat your specific form of OCD, here are five tips that will help you succeed.
- Learn To Accept Risk
Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD involves experiencing uncertainty and discomfort without engaging in destructive or harmful compulsions to reduce its impact. In a nutshell, this is all about facing your fears.
Risk is a basic part of life and there is nothing that can be done to prevent risk from entering our daily lives. The only way to deal with risk is to live with it, including its consequences.
- Don’t Seek Validation
Reassurance-seeking can become excessive and that will worsen symptoms of OCD and other anxiety and mood disorders. There are healthier ways to improve your mental health.
Seeking validation and reassurance from others can cancel out the effects of your therapy homework. Instead, learn to get comfortable with the idea of the worst happening, or tell yourself that it already has.
- IOP Treatment
Intensive outpatient treatment is an excellent plan for patients with OCD. Generally, these patients are treated twice a week for regular outpatient care for 10 to 12 weeks. Managing OCD with intensive outpatient programs is one of the most effective ways of regaining control over your mind and your body.
Imaginal exposure, exposure therapy, and cognitive therapy are 3 of the most common ways to treat OCD to provide effective habit reversal training.
- Stay Focused
If you are just starting with your reformative therapy sessions, it is vital to understand that OCD treatment is about managing your thoughts and symptoms. If you control your negative thoughts before they take hold, you will have a better chance of completing your treatment plan.
Many people with OCD get fantastic results from effective treatment and can learn to manage their symptoms through their choice of psychotherapy methods.
- Understand Your Doubt and Guilt
Doubt and guilt are often the hallmarks of OCD. Ensure that you learn to identify and understand your feelings of doubt and guilt. These are two of the most infuriating qualities of OCD and can push even the most intelligent people over the edge.
Acknowledging your feelings is the first step in gaining control over them. You must remember that it is your body, your mind, and your rules. That is easier said than done, but your life will be much easier once you accept that as your truth.
We all have things that we would like to change about ourselves, that doesn’t mean that we are faulty – it means that we are human.
