Understanding OCD: Breaking free from intrusive thoughts and compulsions

What is OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)?

You must have heard this word many times. When someone is very neat or very careful or very ordered, we casually say “Oh! She has full OCD”.

But is that what OCD is? No. OCD is much beyond just being over-neat or over-cautious. OCD is a mental illness, which effects at least 2-3% of the world's population. It starts before the age of 25 and it usually lasts long unless we give early treatment.

OCD as the name suggests is a disease of obsessions and compulsions.

What are obsessions? Simply put they are thoughts that come into the brain again and again. If it was a happy thought, you wouldn't have a problem even if it came again and again. But these are not at all happy thoughts. They are very disturbing thoughts.

And the time spent on these thoughts will be more than 3 hours, 4 hours, and sometimes even 10 hours. It feels like your mind is not free to think any other thoughts. You feel trapped inside your own brain. You cannot simply control these thoughts. When such disturbing thoughts come repeatedly, the person tries to get over these thoughts. So, what does he do?

Firstly, he uses some actions which decrease the anxiety. These are called Compulsions. Now, though compulsions reduce anxiety and distress of obsessions, there are so many problems with these compulsions of actions.

Firstly, these act as temporary relief. You do compulsions so that the thoughts reduce, but the thoughts reduce only for a short time, not only that, next time the thoughts come, they come more in number and more disturbing. These are the tricks of OCD brain. These compulsions are also very time consuming. Slowly it comes to a point where compulsions become as disturbing as obsessions.

So, what do people do? They end up avoiding work, they suffer from shame, they avoid friends, they avoid their whole life.

Either they spend most of the time sleeping or looking at the screen just to get over these thoughts. They find no other way. Obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance, completely fills their life.

To understand this let's discuss about the most common form of OCD.

The most common obsession that we see is the fear or possibility of contamination. They have this constant fear and repeated thoughts about contamination. Thoughts like: What if this table is contaminated? What if some deadly infection bacteria is on the table? What if I get a deadly infection and die? And worst, What is my family members die because of an infection?

What if ……???? And the brain gets trapped in what ifs.

To overcome these thoughts, they do everything to protect themselves. They wash hands again and again and again. They bath for 3 to 4 hours. They clean every surface with sanitizers. They avoid going outside. They stop hugging people and shaking hands. They spend 8 to 10 hours just cleaning.

Not understanding their situation, family members start complaining that “if he or she wants to control then they can! They are just stubborn, wantedly doing this.” But the truth is, it is not in their control. People with OCD can’t just snap out of it. It’s not a choice, and it’s definitely not something they’re doing on purpose.

For example: Imagine a car whose brakes have failed, and it goes at top speed. No matter how much the driver pushes the breaks and tries to stop the car, he can't, because the brakes have failed. The only way to fix this is by fixing those breaks.

Similarly, people with OCD have problems with brakes of thoughts inside their brain. The only way to fix is to fix the brakes.

How do we treat OCD?

We have understood so far that repetitive disturbing thoughts that cannot be controlled must be attacked. Avoiding the thoughts won't work. Compulsions don't work, then what can we do?

Only way to attack these thoughts is by reducing the distress caused by obsessions. This anxiety is like food for obsessions, so you starve these obsessions.

The first way to starve these thoughts is medicines. Medicines reduce anxiety and also reduces the frequency or the number of these thoughts. There we use drugs called SSRIS treatment. This takes time, and patience is important.

Next is therapy by ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention). Here the person is exposed to their fears with the help of triggers. Then once the anxiety develops and obsessions start, we help the patient to realize that even if they don’t do compulsions, even if they don’t avoid the situation, still the anxiety will come down automatically.

We make them understand that to get over the fear, we have to use fear. We have to go through the fear and get over it. It has been proven again and again that if you face the fear and live through it, then the thoughts or obsessions will reduce. It is the golden form of therapy, but the only issue is, it is done over 12 – 14 weeks with over 20 sessions, which is a time taking process.

TMS: For the first time in Hyderabad, Asha Neuromodulation Clinic introduced Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS), a novel technology for the treatment of OCD. Deep TMS is an additional therapy, which is a non-invasive technology approved by the US-FDA, that utilises magnetic fields to stimulate specific, deeper areas of the brain, where we tackle the brakes of the brain.

After thorough evaluation by a Psychiatrist, depending on the severity of one’s OCD, the doctor may prescribe either of the above mentioned treatments, or a combination of any or all of the treatments.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with OCD, know that you’re not alone, and help is available. At Asha Neuromodulation Clinic, we specialize in treating OCD and other mental health conditions. Our team of experts is here to support you every step of the way.

Don’t let OCD control your life. Schedule a consultation with Dr.Allam Bhavana and take that first step towards reclaiming your life today.

Understanding OCD