People with fairly mild OCD usually need about 10 hours of therapist treatment, with exercises done at home between sessions. If you have more severe OCD, you may need a longer course of treatment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the effective psychological interventions for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), which usually involves 10 or more sessions.
It does appear that over half of OCD patients (and maybe many more) will need to be on at least a low dose of medication for years, perhaps even for life. It seems likely that the risk of relapse is lower if patients learn to use behavior therapy techniques while they are doing well on medications.
Traditional CBT treatment usually requires weekly 30- to 60-minute sessions over 12 to 20 weeks.
People with OCD or their loved ones might wonder whether OCD can go away after treatment. Unfortunately, the condition does not simply disappear after a few sessions of therapy or starting medication. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a cognitive disorder, not a physical ailment that can be cured through medical means.
You may need to take an SSRI for 12 weeks before you notice any benefit. Most people need treatment for at least a year. You may be able to stop if you have few or no troublesome symptoms after this time, although some people need to take an SSRI for many years.
The time it takes to see improvement depends on the severity, the subset or type of OCD you have, and your willingness to engage in treatment. Response to treatment can vary. Many people see results and improvement in as little as 6 to 12 sessions. Others take 6 months to a year.
Expected Duration/Prognosis: While OCD can be lifelong, the prognosis is better in children and young adults. Among these individuals, 40% recover entirely by adulthood. Most people with OCD have a marked improvement in symptoms with therapy while only 1 in 5 resolve without treatment.
The best way to put an end to the cycle is to practice exposure and response prevention. This means you “accept” the thoughts, live with the uncertainty, and refrain from engaging in compulsions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered the most effective method of treating OCD. CBT is a type of psychotherapy that addresses the relationship of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. A therapist will help you adjust your thoughts to affect your actions.
Getting the correct diagnosis, or even just recognizing you have OCD, often takes years. Then comes the search for appropriate treatment, followed by a long-term commitment to therapy and hard work. We know recovery is possible, but it is rarely a “quick fix.”
The only way to beat OCD is by experiencing and psychologically processing triggered anxiety (exposure) until it resolves on its own—without trying to neutralize it with any safety-seeking action (response or ritual prevention).
Experts aren't sure of the exact cause of OCD. Genetics, brain abnormalities, and the environment are thought to play a role. It often starts in the teens or early adulthood. But, it can also start in childhood.
Hospitalization usually occurs only when patients are unable to care for themselves or they pose a danger to themselves or others. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or talking about hurting him or herself, take action immediately. You can: Call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
Attend to the intrusive thoughts; accept them and allow them in, then allow them to move on. Don't fear the thoughts; thoughts are just that—thoughts. Don't let them become more than that. Take intrusive thoughts less personally, and let go of your emotional reaction to them.
It takes courage to make changes and face fears, particularly if the obsessions and compulsions have existed for many years. Some people with OCD are afraid to begin treatment; their counterproductive ways of coping create an illusion of safety, and control may be very difficult to give up.
It is actively choosing to do something differently. It is being vulnerable and reaching out for help when you need it. Recovery is so many different things to so many different people. It is unique, it is progress over perfection, it is moving forward one day at a time, and sometimes one moment at a time.
OCD , usually considered a lifelong disorder, can have mild to moderate symptoms or be so severe and time-consuming that it becomes disabling.
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is the gold-standard treatment for OCD.
OCD was one of the first psychiatric disorders in brain scans showed evidence of abnormal brain activity in specific regions.
Individuals with OCD often have certain chemical imbalances present in the brain. Changes in the neurochemicals serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate are normally present in OCD cases.
Studies show that OCD patients have excess activity in frontal regions of the brain, including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which could explain their intrusive thoughts and high levels of anxiety, respectively.
Left untreated, OCD can lead to other severe mental health conditions, such as anxiety and panic attacks, and depression. Untreated mental health conditions are also a significant source of drug and alcohol addiction. People will often turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with the distress of an untreated mental disorder.
By creating new, more organized "roads" in your brain, you rewire yourself out of the old OCD loop and create strong off-ramps for new ways of thinking. This helps to break those old patterns so that obsessive thoughts become quieter and compulsive actions feel less compulsive.