Real-life OCD

Whether we hear the term from a client, another provider, or our own classification of someone’s symptoms, “compulsions” tend carry with them some level of assumption – that this might just be OCD.

Parents of children with OCD are often not aware of how they can contribute to their child's behavior, or more specifically, how they unintentionally support the OCD through accommodating behaviors. This blog post explores the role of family accommodations in childhood OCD and provide strategies to help parents better support their child. 

Although primary care physicians and other non-specialists in mental health feel comfortable managing less complicated anxiety-related disorders, OCD is a more complex diagnosis and ideally should be managed by a psychiatrist.  Before initiating medication, the psychiatrist will first do a thorough assessment to ensure that the diagnosis of OCD is accurate, and to determine the presence of coexisting conditions that may complicate the treatment.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can affect people of all races, color, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and/or different cultural backgrounds, and culture can have a large influence on how someone might perceive or report their symptoms.

Friends are the people we keep in our lives by choice and not because of familial bonds, work contracts, or other circumstances. However, for those with the disorder, finding and nurturing friendships while in the thick of symptoms can be just as difficult. 

I’m a psychologist who treats OCD and Anxiety Disorders. When my patients get to a point in treatment when they shrug their shoulders and say to me, “Yeah, I had an intrusive thought, but ‘Whatever”, I know we have hit a home run.