Treatment and Prevention
OCD can be treated either with psychological therapy or medications.
The main psychological intervention is cognitive behavioral therapy - exposure or response prevention - which can result in up to an 80% success rate in motivated people with OCD, with very few relapses. Cognitive behavior therapists deliberately expose you to your obsessions to encourage you to confront the accompanying behaviors. Then, you are prevented from carrying out the rituals. For example, if the ritual is to knock on a door five times before unlocking it, the therapist accompanies you and prevents you from knocking on the door, having you unlock it without knocking.
Thereapy needs to be repeated frequently, over the course of weeks or months, until you are able to push aside the obsessive thoughts that demand the behavior. As the compulsive thoughts become less frequent, the ritualistic behaviors should begin to disappear. At this stage, it is important to look for new compulsive behaviors that you might be developing to replace the conquered ones. New behaviors must be actively discouraged if they appear.
Behavior therapy will only be effective if you are highly motivated and truly want to manage your condition. Because it is challenging and can be demanding on both you and your family, family support is vital to help you overcome the condition.
Treatment using medications also can be very effective in the treatment of OCD. Antidepressants that affect serotonin brain pathways are very useful in controlling the symptoms of OCD. These medications include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine*, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline, citalopram, and venlafaxine, and the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine. It can take up to four to six weeks for medications to show results, so if you are taking these medications, it's important to be patient and to continue taking the medication as directed by your doctor and pharmacist.
Also, medications may work differently for different people, so it might be necessary to change medication or dosages until the right combination is found. Therapy with these medications is not a "quick fix"; people with the disorder need to continue to take the medications and actively participate in treatment to prevent a relapse. With time and effort, your strong desire to stop the behavior, along with ongoing medical and family support, can help you overcome OCD.
*All medications have both common (generic) and brand names. The brand name is what a specific manufacturer calls the product (e.g., Tylenol®). The common name is the medical name for the medication (e.g., acetaminophen). A medication may have many brand names, but only one common name. This article lists medications by their common names. For more information on brand names, speak with your doctor or pharmacist.