Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Hello!

Today, I’ll talk to you about different treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The article I chose is called “Obsessive-compulsive disorder. What treatments work for obsessive-compulsive disorder?”, and it tells about treatments for OCD, specially talking therapy and some drugs, as antidepressants and antipsychotics.

It starts with talking therapy. This is called Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and it’s a mixture between two important psychological theories: Behaviourism and Cognitivism.  

The first one refers to the different ways psychologists can help people to live with their condition. The second one refers to how people think about the world, and how these thoughts are related to reality. 

So, this mixture will produce a therapy that pretends the person confronts the things that makes his/her anxious. This part of the therapy is called “exposure”. After this, the therapist asks to the patient to perform a behaviour that makes his/her anxious, for example, touch a dirty thing. The psychology helps to the person to cope without the compulsive behaviour, as wash his/her hands. This part of the therapy is called “response prevention”. The therapist gives homework to the patient that he/she have to do between every session.

For children, this therapy is the first treatment they have to follow.

Everything I say is supported by a lot of investigations.

Then, the authors refer about some kinds of drugs which can help to controle this disorder. The most important are antidepressants, specially “Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)”. This is a drug that increases serotonin, a chemical messenger that improves the signals between neurons. A little amount of this chemical could be one of OCD causes. These are the most successful and used drugs, although these cause some side effects.

When antidepressants don’t work, people take antipsychotic drugs. These help to have fewer symptoms of OCD too. These drugs have side effects too, but they are more dangerous.

 
Electroconvulsive therapy isn’t so used, so I won’t refer to it.

In my opinion, talking therapy must be the first option. When is doesn’t work, drugs are a good option, but both therapies must be together. 

Bye!