What is OCD - San Diego?
by Katherine Pica LCSW
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder , OCD
Obsessive compulsive disorder, (OCD) is a mental health disorder where a person has obsessional thoughts, along with rituals and compulsions around those thoughts. OCD affects all different types of people from all different walks of life. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH 2021) 2.3% of adults will experience OCD in their lives. In addition, there are countless others that struggle with milder, yet bothersome symptoms of OCD.
You are not alone in your struggle with OCD. Many people struggle with OCD, yet sadly, only about one third of these seek help. OCD is highly treatable and the key is finding an OCD therapist who specializes in OCD treatment. With the help of an OCD therapist you can learn real life solutions to break free from your OCD.
At what point do I need OCD therapy ?...
When obsessions and compulsions are overly time consuming, or they cause unwanted distress or start to interfere with relationships, jobs, school or daily functioning.
What are obsessions?
Obsessions are recurrent or persistent unwanted thoughts or images that repeat over and over and feel outside of one's control. Obsessions are time consuming and take people away from life’s normal activities, often causing a significant amount of anxiety or stress. In OCD treatment we work and take a look at obsessions and compulsions
Symptoms of OCD - Obsessions
Contamination Fears
Fear of getting sick
Fear of acting on the thought of harming yourself
Fear of acting on the thought to harming others
Fear of upsetting God
Fear of not going to heaven
Excessive concerns about symmetry
Excessive concerns about doing things just right
Concerns about needing to know
Fear of losing something or throwing something out
Concerns about having obscene or perverse sexual thoughts
What are OCD compulsions?
For those who struggle with OCD, compulsions are an attempt to control anxiety. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that sufferers feel driven to perform. Compulsive thoughts and behaviors may temporarily reduce anxiety, however OCD will often demand more and more compulsions, with anxiety, in turn, increasing. Compulsions start off by trying to get rid of anxiety however then they actually become the problem.
Symptoms of OCD- Compulsions:
Handwashing
Excessive bathing after being somewhere where you may worry is contaminated
Checking your work over and over for mistakes
Checking to make sure you did not run over a person or animal
Checking light switches, door knobs or household electrical appliances
Doing things in only a certain pattern
Seeking reassurance that you did not do something wrong
Constantly apologizing
Repeating activities in multiples
Doing things until it feels just right
Compulsively arranging things in order
Checking to make sure you don’t harm yourself or others
So to sum it up Obsessions are the thing we fear, and compulsions are the thing we do to neutralize the fear.
Common Symptoms or Themes of OCD
Contamination OCD / Fear of Germs
Fear of contamination of germs can be a form of OCD. You may be fearful of contaminating yourself or others. This can often include excessive hand washing. You may fear touching things in public spaces. Of course during this pandemic most of us have these types of concerns. But with OCD the fear, anxiety and compulsions can become overwhelming and habitual. You may find yourself anxiously avoiding places that could potentially contaminate you, (e.g. public restrooms, door knobs , floors, trashcans, shoes, hospitals, doctor offices and certain people).
When contaminated places can't be avoided there often are rituals that attempt to decontaminate. These include excessive hand washing, bathing and showering. Other excessive attempts to remove contamination may include: removing and washing clothes upon re-entering the home, excessive use of wipes and disinfectant in an attempt to decontaminate, etc.
Checking / Checking OCD
OCD can come in the form of checking compulsions. You may find yourself double checking your driving, fearful that you have accidentally run someone over. Checking light switches, locks, electrical appliances on the stove. Checking homework or paperwork can be another checking compulsion. OCD treatment will focus on targeting the checking compulsions.
Symmetry / Counting / Just Right OCD
Some OCD can come in the form of focusing on doing rituals just right. Maybe you do something over and over again until it feels right, or it's the same as last time. Maybe you find yourself performing rituals with a specific number, like I click my pen 10 times before I start writing. Or looking at things in a certain way or moving your body in a certain way until it feels right or you do it correctly. It can come in the form of having objects arranged in a certain way. Maybe brushing your teeth or touching a doorknob or walking with the left foot first.
Mental Obsessions and Compulsions
Some forms of OCD don't have the classic compulsions like washing, symmetry or checking. Sometimes compulsions can take the form of mental rituals. We used to call this Purely Obsessional, Pure O. We no longer call it Pure O because we have realized for those who suffer with mental rituals there is a lot of overthinking and “what if’s,” and that this over thinking is actually the compulsion.
Below are a few examples of different types of mental obsessions.
Harm obsessions / Harm OCD
These could be images of harming another person (e.g. When you see a knife you think of stabbing the person next to you.) These thoughts alone can bring overwhelming guilt and shame. In my experience, those with Harm OCD find the thought of harming someone quite disturbing and, in fact, have never harmed anyone. Studies have shown that OCD sufferers are extremely unlikely to act on these thoughts. Please know that there are many people with struggles like you and there is treatment available.
Sexual obsessions- Sexual OCD
Some individuals have obsessions about sexual or sexuually aggressive thoughts. Sexual or obsessive thoughts about incest, children, beastality or other thoughts that you consider unacceptable. This often comes in the form of experiencing a tabo thought and worrying about acting on the thought. Often thoughts go along with these “Why would I even think this, could I do that?” You may feel like a horrible person for having these thoughts. You are not alone and these thoughts can be seen in different forms of OCD. Many worry about having these thoughts and acting on them. Here is the good news... It is actually highly unlikely that will will act on these disturbing, unwanted thoughts. (Note: In contrast, a predator is not worried about having these type of thoughts and even enjoys them.) But that’s not true for those with OCD. In fact, OCD sufferers hate these thoughts. Please know that you are not alone and there is help available.
Sexual orientation obsessions / Homosexual OCD
Some individuals with OCD have thoughts and worries about their sexual orientation. If the individual is heterosexual they obsessively worry that they are homosexual. If they are homosexual then they worry then worry they are heteroxual.
Religious obsessions or scrupulosity / Religious OCD
With religious OCD there can be the concern that maybe you offend God. Maybe you won't go to heaven. Maybe God will think you're bad. Some compulsions could be ritualized praying or asking others or your religious leader if they think you are going to hell.
Relationship obsessions/ Relationship OCD
OCD can focus on romantic relationships. While most people have some doubts about their relationship from time to time, OCD will pay excessive attention and time to the flaws of oneself or others. This can come in the form of checking that your relationship is the right relationship. Checking that the person is the one you're meant to be with. Relationship OCD may stop people from entering into a relationship or cause a lot of difficulty in a relationship.
Sensorimotor obsessions
Sensorimotor OCD is where the OCD sufferer becomes overly aware of the body process and sensations. Being overly aware of breathing, blinking, swallowing, heartbeat, movement of the mouth or placement of teeth, and or visual distractions . Most often the sufferer is afraid they will “always have to think about this.” Often I have found that people fear they will have to think about this forever and then they will “go crazy.”
When is OCD usually diagnosed?
OCD can come at any time from early childhood into adulthood. OCD can also present postpartum.
Why do I have OCD?
OCD is thought to be both a biological and learned issue. OCD has been found to run in families. While there certainly seems to be a genetic component to OCD, there also seems to be learned experiences that can reinforce OCD types of behavior.
How find an OCD therapist in San Diego?
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) has been shown to be the most effective form of therapy for OCD. If you seek help through Resilience Counseling I will be using ERP to help treat your OCD. I am an OCD therapist and use ERP as the the frontline treatment for OCD. ERP is an evidenced based therapy and is, in fact, considered the “gold standard” for treatment of OCD. Studies show that ERP is 80% effective in reduce symptoms of OCD. FInding an OCD therapist who has been trained in ERP is very important. The studies really show that ERP works!
ERP is a very specific type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that helps us learn to accept the obsessions and then work to reduce the compulsions. And while ERP can be challenging, continuing to suffer from OCD is far more challenging. Think of all the time wasted to the anxiety and rituals that OCD demands of you. Yes, treatment is difficult, but not nearly as difficult as living a lifetime with OCD. It is importratnt to get help from an OCD therapist in order to get the right type of treatment. OCD treatment is available and there is help available.
OCD therapy in San Diego
There is so much hope for the OCD sufferer. At Resilience Counseling we have worked successfully with many individuals, helping them overcome a wide variety of types of OCD. We are specialized OCD therapists and we have found ERP to be a highly effective and hopeful treatment for OCD. Local to San Diego for in person sessions and available for video sessions all over California. If you feel like you want to take the first step to get help with your OCD, please contact us so we can set up a free 15 minute phone call today.
