Learn to minimize obsessions and compulsions.
If you suffer from unwanted and intrusive thoughts, urges or images that you can’t get out of your head, you may have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Many people with OCD spend several hours every day focusing on obsessive thoughts, which can compel them to repeatedly perform ritualistic behaviors and routines (compulsions) to try and ease the associated anxiety.
Typical OCD obsessions include:
- Constant, irrational worry about dirt, germs, or contamination
- Excessive concern with order, arrangement, or symmetry
- Fear that negative or aggressive thoughts or impulses will cause personal harm or harm to a loved one
- Preoccupation with losing or throwing away objects with little or no value
- Excessive concern about accidentally or purposefully injuring another person
- Feeling overly responsible for the safety of others
- Distasteful religious and sexual thoughts or images
- Doubting that is irrational or excessive
Frequent OCD compulsions include:
- Cleaning — Repeatedly washing hands, bathing, or cleaning household items, often for hours at a time
- Checking — Checking and re-checking several to hundreds of times a day that the doors are locked, the stove is turned off, the hairdryer is unplugged, etc.
- Repeating — Inability to stop repeating a name, phrase, or simple activity (such as going through a doorway over and over)
- Hoarding — Difficulty throwing away useless items such as old newspapers or magazines, bottle caps, or rubber bands
- Touching and arranging – Repeatedly touching a specific place or arranging objects in a particular pattern
- Mental rituals — Endless reviewing of conversations, counting; repetitively calling up “good” thoughts to neutralize “bad” thoughts; or excessive praying and using special words or phrases to neutralize obsessions
We Can Help
The Ross Center clinicians have the specialized training and experience to help you or your child manage Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Using the latest evidence-based treatment, including cognitive behavior therapy and exposure therapy, we help you minimize your obsessive thoughts and reduce compulsive behavior. When medication is warranted, a psychiatrist will collaborate with your therapist to provide state-of-the-art-treatment so you can begin to feel better and overcome your OCD.