Speaking from experience, I would say that the average uncomplicated case of OCD takes from about six to twelve months to be successfully completed. If symptoms are severe, if the person works at a slow pace, or if other problems are also present, it can take longer.
OCD obsessions are repeated, persistent and unwanted thoughts, urges or images that are intrusive and cause distress or anxiety. You might try to ignore them or get rid of them by performing a compulsive behavior or ritual. These obsessions typically intrude when you're trying to think of or do other things.
Previously thought to be rare, OCD is reported to occur in 1-3% of people. It is the fourth most common mental illness after phobias, substance abuse, and major depression. OCD has peaks of onset at two different life phases: pre-adolescence and early adulthood.
OCD. see obsessive-compulsive disorder. and the onset can often be linked to a strep or some other kind of infection. When sudden-onset OCD and other related symptoms are triggered by an infection, it's thought to be an auto-immune syndrome called PANS or PANDAS.
OCD symptoms can worsen if left untreated. Likewise, stress and other mental health symptoms like trauma, anxiety, and themes of perfectionism, can aggravate OCD. Sometimes, symptoms may worsen dramatically and suddenly, but it's more likely for them to escalate gradually.
Essentially, a trigger is anything that leads to an OCD obsession. Once triggered, you may start to feel anxiety and discomfort. The members I work with in therapy often say that triggers can seemingly come out of nowhere, immediately demanding their full attention.
Common themes of intrusive thoughts, also called “spikes,” include violent, taboo, or outright terrifying intrusive scenarios. The graphic nature of these thoughts and their intensity can make life unbearable for those who suffer. As with all forms of OCD, the thoughts are uncontrollable.
Signs and symptoms of OCD can worsen or fade over time or come in waves. For this reason, many do not seek OCD treatment until they have been living with the disorder for years. There are objective diagnostic tools available that not only help doctors identify OCD but rate its severity so treatment can be personalized.
Obsessive-compulsive symptoms generally wax and wane over time. Because of this, many individuals diagnosed with OCD may suspect that their OCD comes and goes or even goes away—only to return. However, as mentioned above, obsessive-compulsive traits never truly go away. Instead, they require ongoing management.
“OCD symptoms can intensify during times of stress or when you feel like life is getting out of control.”
The bulk of the problems occurring within your OCD come from you. The main reason that compulsions seem so hard to stop is because you have rehearsed them so often that they have become very automatic habits that are easy to do without thinking.
Untreated OCD can be traumatic
If you live with untreated OCD long enough, you can begin to feel traumatized by the experience of having the disorder.
That's not the way OCD works. In fact, ignoring symptoms, telling yourself that you're not really that bad and you can manage the disorder by trying self-help for OCD will only exacerbate the situation. OCD generally tends to worsen over time without treatment.
Ongoing anxiety or stress, or being part of a stressful event like a car accident or starting a new job, could trigger OCD or make it worse. Pregnancy or giving birth can sometimes trigger perinatal OCD.
This is when OCD can flip you on your head and utilize the absence of anxiety against you. When you recognize an improvement in symptoms over time, you might start to fear that the lack of anxiety signifies your approval of obsessions. This is a trap to avoid falling into.
If you haven't guessed, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) wins the award for the anxiety category most of us would relegate solely to the violent criminals of this world. Unless of course, you suffer from OCD, and then you'd likely fear that wishing that may result in becoming a violent victimizer yourself.
People with severe OCD have obsessions with cleanliness and germs — washing their hands, taking showers, or cleaning their homes for hours a day. Sometimes they're afraid to leave home for fear of contamination.
OCD symptoms usually start as habits and continuously grow to become erratic behavior. Aggravators of OCD can vary from stress to anxiety and other mental health conditions. As such, it is essential to seek therapy, manage triggers and see a doctor if symptoms worsen.
Giving into the compulsions will typically make OCD worse by fueling the vicious cycle of obsessions and compulsions. While doing a compulsion may initially provide relief and feel like the only way to ease your anxiety, the more compulsions you do, the more OCD will want from you.
But while OCD doesn't necessarily cause schizophrenia, it can come with higher chances of experiencing it than people without OCD. A sudden onset of OCD symptoms may also be connected to the development of conditions involving psychosis, like schizophrenia.