Treatments for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an undeniably difficult, at times tremendously strenuous condition to deal with. Recent estimates indicate that two to three percent of adults and anywhere from one to two million Americans are touched by the anxiety disorder in some way, shape or form on a yearly basis. As such, given its prevalence, treatments for OCD are constantly in high demand.

In order to treat OCD, its first important to acknowledge what the condition is all about. OCD is an anxiety disorder in which sufferers are forced to deal with obsessions and compulsions in undesired times and unwanted locales. These obsessions and compulsions essentially take over a person’s life, and force him or her to conduct themselves in a manner that may be unbecoming of them, or in a way that they simply never expected to behave.

Although OCD is not curable at this time, a plethora of treatment options exist that can help sufferers lead relatively normal lives nevertheless. Which option a given sufferer chooses depends largely on how quickly they want their treatment option to take effect, what side-effects they are prepared to live with, and what their lifestyles are like.

Generally speaking, OCD treatment is broken down into two categories. In the first, medicinal options are utilized.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the following treatment options are legitimate and accepted in the effort to counteract the effects of OCD: Clomipramine (Anafranil), Fluvoxamine (Luvox), Fluoxetine (Prozac), Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva) and Sertraline (Zoloft). Although all of these treatments are stamped and approved by the FDA, as is the case with any medicines, side-effects do exist. So, essentially, the tradeoff is a quicker response and possibly more efficiency for all of the negative ramifications that come with the usage of drugs.

For those who are interested in a less speedy, more talk therapy-related approach, there is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a well-known form of therapeutic option for OCD sufferers. It more or less makes use of changing up thought patterns and routines in a specific way so that compulsions and behaviors are no longer entirely necessary, or at the very least, as dominant. This therapy can occur in individual, family or group-wide sessions, depending on the preferences of the sufferer.

Again, when dealing with OCD, there is no “right way” or “wrong way” to do it. So long as a sufferer does their research and selects the option that suits them best, they should have no problems dealing with the condition in their own way in their own specific time frame.

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