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Treatment of OCD

by — Last updated: 2022-09-25 in Women's Health

Table of Contents

OCD or Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a specific psychiatric disorder, which is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive thoughts and related compulsions which attempt to neutralize the obsessions.


OCD can be treated with Behavioral therapy (BT), Cognitive therapy (CT), or a combination of both known as Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT), as well as with a variety of medications.

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT)

The specific technique used in this therapy is called Exposure and Ritual Prevention and it involves gradually learning to tolerate the anxiety associated with not performing the ritual behavior through analyzing the impact of the thought patterns.

The exposure

This means that during the treatment the patient gets exposed to the object of his or her obsession. For example, people who are obsessed by germs and their OCD manifests by excessive hand-washing, are asked to touch something that looks dirty and that would normally trigger their compulsion. This is done in the presence of a psychotherapist who tries to lessen the anxiety the patient feels in contact with his or her obsession.

Medications

Pharmacologic treatments include:

  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as paroxetine (Paxil®, Aropax®), sertraline (Zoloft®), fluoxetine (Prozac®), and fluvoxamine (Luvox®)
  • SSRIs help about 60% of OCD patients, but relapses are common once the medication is no longer taken
  • Tricyclic antidepressants, in particular clomipramine (Anafranil®).
  • Other medications like gabapentin (Neurontin®), lamotrigine (Lamictal®), antipsychotics olanzapine (Zyprexa®) and risperidone (Risperdal®)
  • The naturally occurring sugar Inositol may be an effective treatment for OCD


 

Drug

 

Brand Name

 

Usual Dosage

 

Sizes

 

comments

 

Fluoxetine

 

Prozac®

 

About 1mg/kg

 

10, 20, liquid

 

Long acting

 

Paroxetine

 

Paxil®

 

20-60mg a day

 

10, 20, 30

 

Worse withdrawal symptoms

 

Citalopram

 

Celexa®

 

20-40mg a day

 

20

 

New in 1999

 

Sertraline

 

Zoloft®

 

3mg/kg max

 

25, 50

 

capsules

 

Fluvoxamine

 

Luvox®

 

3mg/kg max

 

50, 100

 

Pills are scored

 



Psychosurgery

Unfortunately for some, medications, support groups or psychological treatments aren’t helpful in relieving the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
These patients may have to undergo psychosurgery. In this procedure, a surgical lesion is made in an area of the brain and it was found that approximately 30% of participants benefited significantly from this procedure.