exposure response resistance for OCD

[nicky6]

Im new here I just wondered if anyone else is doing exposure and response resistance for ocd ?

[AdrienneC]

Hi nicky6... I dont have OCD but have always had depression and anxiety since I was 15. I now have a 17 yr old daughter who is severe with her anxiety and OCD. She is doing exposure response therapy and is on medications.... the results are very slow and there are days we feel like it is one step forward and two backwards. She has been seeing CYMHS since November , but it still causes major chaos in our household.  It is such a hard disorder for the rest of us to understand, and I can help as much as possible but although I know about anxiety etc I have never had the intrusive thoughts that come all the time. I am told it is a long slow process especially if you are very severe. How are you finding it?

[geoff]

dear Nicky, this is a post that all ways interests me as I've had OCD for 54 years, but in regard to what you are saying I actually had to look it up on the net, because I can't remember anyone mentioning it this way, so I would be interested to know what it does to you as well as Adrienne, so can you please get back to me. Geoff.

[0001Billy]

Hello , I have had OCD for 40 + years since age 7 ..the only effective treatment I have found is exposure response prevention. I have seen numerous mental health proffesionals and found that most Psychiatrists just say here take this medication , usually an anti depressant but few actually talk about exposure response prevention.

the anti depressants certainly have a place but the only actual cure is exposure response prevention ..I have come a long long way with it .

[JohnB9]

I've had OCD for most of my adult life.  I've found medication does help significantly, but it doesn't make me totally better, just better than I would be without it.

Exposure response prevention is what I need.

However, my main OCD problem is with dirt, and I would rather have OCD than be dirty.  I've had other problems, such as hoarding, but as soon as my psychiatrist explained that the hoarding was part of my OCD, I threw out much of what I had hoarded.  I still tend to hoard, but the moment it interferes with my life in general, I do something about it.

I use the standard CBT approach of asking myself what is the consequence of throwing stuff away, and the answer is "nothing significant", but I can't use the same thought process with dirt, because the answer to what is the consequence of not cleaning is "I'll be dirty" and that is to me an undesirable consequence in itself.