OCD Treatment Services

OCD is a mental health disorder in which a person experiences frequent unwanted thoughts or fears that they manage with repetitive rituals or behaviors. These intrusive thoughts (obsessions) trigger feelings of distress or urges that are hard to eliminate until the person performs certain actions (compulsions) that decrease their heightened feelings.

Anyone at any age can develop OCD, but it typically appears between the ages of 8–12 or early adulthood. About 1 in 100 adults and 1 in 200 children are said to have OCD.

Everyone has things they obsess over, but for those with OCD, obsessions are more extreme. OCD obsessions are frequent and cause severe anxiety where a person cannot function. The exact obsession varies from person to person with OCD, but they are broken down into the following categories:

Contamination
Fear of germs, dirt, chemicals, bodily fluids, or environmental contaminants is a common form of OCD. This may cause the compulsion to repeatedly wash hands or avoid certain situations.

Responsibility
This OCD obsession can cause a person to deal with extreme anxiety of possibly doing something to cause harm to themselves or others, such as car crashes.

Violence/Harm
This OCD fear can cause horrific images in a person’s mind or cause continuous worry of inflicting violence on themselves or a loved one. A person with OCD struggling with this obsession may constantly worry that a loved one will get hurt somehow.

Sexual
Sexual OCD obsessions can also cause unwanted sexual images or thoughts in a person’s mind. It can also enact the fear of being too sexually aggressive towards a person or acting on a sexual-related impulse.

Spiritual/Moral
A person dealing with spiritual or moral OCD obsessions tends to deal with the constant worry that they will do something to upset God or do something morally wrong. They may deal with the compulsions of asking for forgiveness over and over.

Symmetry/Perfectionism
This OCD obsession can lead to a person being fixated on evenness and exactness when it comes to numbers, arranging items, or being concerned with ensuring things are done correctly.

Self-Doubt
Self-doubt obsessions can make a person feel as if they forgot to do something or something isn’t done right, such as locking the door before the house. This obsession can cause a person to repeatedly perform a task or action to ensure completion.

Compulsions a person with OCD has relates to their obsession or is a behavior that comforts the person and reduces their anxiety. Common compulsions related to OCD obsessions can be:

• Repeatedly washing hands or heavily sanitizing an area
• Excessive bathing
• Being overly careful or refusing to partake in certain activities
• Checking things multiple times
• Arranging items in a certain way or constantly counting items
• Doing things in a certain order
• Counting while doing things to end on a number that feels “safe”

Other than performing actions or rituals, there are a few physical symptoms people with OCD may have. They can include:

• Eye blinking
• Head jerking
• Nose sniffling
• Shrugging their shoulders.

These actions can be brief and repetitive in those with OCD.

Brent will sit down with you and perform a psychiatric evaluation to look for the following:

• If there are evident obsessions and compulsions
• If these obsessions and compulsions cause extreme anxiety or distress
• If the obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and hinder responsibilities such as work, school, or social life. Another sign Brent will look for is if these obsessions and compulsions are time-consuming.

OCD can be treated through cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication. Brent will discuss and evaluate each patient to find the best treatment plan to help manage OCD. One tactic Brent may use is exposure and response prevention (E/RP) to help patients learn to recognize their unwanted thoughts and find a way to direct their thinking.

Don’t wait to seek help for OCD. Call Peak Mental Health today or schedule an appointment online to start receiving treatment.