Many of us have noticed that we check your door locks again and again to see that if it is closed or not or we might wash our hands several times even it is clean. These are the symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or commonly known as OCD. It is quite common to double check door locks or wash our hands twice, but if we have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder it is very difficult to get rid of these obsessive thoughts and we have a compulsion to repeat these actions again and again. With proper treatment and some self-help measures we can gain control of these urges and obsessive thoughts and lead a normal life.

First let us understand what is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD is a type of mental illness, which causes repeated unwanted thoughts and ritualized behaviors that you are compelled to perform. It is a type of anxiety disorder. In case of OCD, the effected person probably recognizes that he has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors and that it is irrational, but even knowing so he is unable to break free from such behavior. 

Obsessive thoughts are involuntary in nature and they occur in your mind repeatedly and even though you do not want them to occur, you just can't stop having them in your mind.

Compulsions again are behaviors or rituals that you perform again and again. These compulsions are often driven by the obsessive thoughts that a person has in his or her mind. So he performs these actions to get rid of such thoughts. For example, we often check our gas burner if it is turned off or not even though we are quite sure it is. So these behaviors are often distracting and time-consuming and hinders our daily life a lot.

People who suffers from OCD generally fall under these categories:

Washers and Cleaners: These people have a tendency to wash their hands repeatedly and clean their houses several times. They have this fear of contamination, germs and infections.

Checkers: These people check things. For example they check if their gas oven burner is turned off or if the door is locked or not. They do it numerous times. They have this fear of some unknown danger or harm that can cause to them or their family.

Doubters: These people do certain actions because they fear that if they do not do so something bad or terrible thing is going to happen to them or their dear ones. They do it because they are superstitious. 

Hoarders: Hoarders are people who collect things even if they do not need it or perhaps will never need it. They never throw them away and stack their houses with these unwanted things and items.

This is a general overview in which we can categorize OCD people.

Signs and symptoms of OCD

Obsessive thoughts:

• Fear of contamination through germs, diseases, dirt, or other contaminating substances.
• Fear of harm to yourself and to your loved ones.
• Always trying to keep things in order and symmetry.
• Excessive focus on religious and moral values.
• Fear of loss of things.
• Extreme superstitions and giving too much importance to lucky and unlucky.
• Intrusive obsessive thoughts which focuses on sexual and violent images.

Compulsive behaviors:

• Excessive thoughts of double checking things such as door locks, gas burners etc.
• Spending excessive time cleaning and washing hands and things.
• Always spending lot of time arranging and keeping things in order.
• Praying and worshiping excessively for fear of sins.
• Checking on loved ones for fear of danger.
• Repeating some actions such as words, tapping on the table, or counting to reduce anxiety.
• Hoarding and accumulating things which you don't need any longer.

Treatment of OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Techniques that are used to OCD are:

1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT: CBT focuses on teaching patients how to effectively respond to these obsessive thoughts without turning themselves into these compulsive behaviors. CBT focuses on the psychological conditions and helps the patients to understand their problem.

2. Exposure and Response Prevention or ERP: The ERP therapy has two parts the "Exposure" and "Response Prevention". In "Exposure" the patients are repeatedly exposed to the situations, thoughts, and images that are the source of obsession. The "Response Prevention" part helps the patients to refrain from doing such obsessive compulsive behaviors. For example if you have a compulsive behavior of turning off gas ovens you will be asked to do so and then asked to refrain from doing so. In this process at first the patient might feel a very severe urge to doing the action again, but gradually he will learn to control his urge and it will go away on its own. In this way the patient will learn to control his urge and get rid  of his anxiety.

3. Medication: Mostly antidepressants are used for treating OCD.

Family participation for treatment of OCD

Often an OCD patient may face problems in his family life and social circuit. So, in that case family therapy is very essential. It helps the family and the patient to understand the root cause of the problem and reduces family conflicts. Another aim of this therapy is to motivate the family members to understand and help the patient to overcome this problem.

Self-help for OCD

Focus your attention to something else: When you are experiencing an urge try to focus your attention to something else for at least 15 to 20 minutes. For e.g. read a book, do some jogging, or watch a movie and thus try to distract yourself. Gradually you will see that your urge has diminished or delayed. At that time try to delay it for a longer period. Keep on practicing this and eventually you will win over your urge.

Jot down your obsessive thoughts: When a thought or compulsion occurs in your mind write down immediately about the nature and how many times these urges occur. Go through the writing and see how repetitive these thoughts are. So every time these thoughts occur just write it down. Writing down the thoughts will help you to forget them instead of remembering them.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle: First of all focus on your diet. Eat healthy and in regular intervals. Start your day with a healthy breakfast and eat small meals frequently to avoid low blood sugar which may again weaken the body and make you anxious. Eat plenty of fruits, whole grains, and vegetables. Above all, have a balanced diet.

Exercise regularly: A daily exercise routine should be followed with brisk walks or aerobics. Aerobics are known to relieve tension and anxiety. One can also go for meditation and yoga which is good for both mind, body and soul.

Alcohol, cigarettes and any form of nicotine should be avoided: Nicotine stimulates OCD symptoms and so does alcohol. At first it consumption of alcohol or nicotine might give a temporary relief to anxiety, but these are very harmful for body and actually causes these symptoms.

Try to get enough sleep: Sleep relaxes the body and thus reduces the feelings of anxiety and compulsive thoughts.

Stay in touch with family and friends: Do not make OCD to detach you from your friends and family. Try to stay connected with them and do not isolate yourself. It is also advisable to join an OCD group. In such way one can also share his or her own experiences and also get the support from other OCD groups.

It is very difficult for an OCD patient to heal completely without the support of his family. So members of the family should understand the problem and not criticize of make fun of the patient. Instead, they should always acknowledge and focus on the positive qualities of the patient. Family and friends should be completely open about the problem and talk and communicate with each other. In this way they can find out a way so that their family life is not hampered and as well as the patient gets full support. Help the patient to forget about the symptoms and distract him from the compulsive behaviors.