CBT therapy and OCD

CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is one of the most common methods applied to treating OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorders.

For the sake of those unfamiliar with this rather common type of disorder, it is noteworthy to say that OCD is an anxiety-related disorder which may drastically affect even the most mundane of everyday tasks in a person's life. There is no particular cultural/social background, nor age group which provides a more favorable fertile breeding ground for the development of OCD.

OCD Basics

The two words written in bold, when it comes to describing OCD, are: compulsion and obsession. These are manifested as persistent, intrusive thoughts which are extremely demanding and harder still to get rid of. The themes involved most frequently revolve around one or several of the following topics: images of violence, blasphemous thoughts, fear of contamination, sexual thoughts and images and excessive concern with one's health. The act of compulsion, itself, represents the ritualized and repetitive action taken to indulge the obsession in an attempt to free oneself of the psychological pressure it is causing.

Knowing the difference between a "temporary case of OCD" caused by a stressed out period in a person's life, and a clinical case of OCD is also very important. Albeit, a lot of people get a mild manifestation of OCD when they are under severe psychological pressure, the manifestations of "the real thing" are far more drastic, frequent and hindering in terms of performing regular daily tasks. Another important difference is that they may also make little to none sense when it comes to recognizing the taken action's relationship to the dreaded consequences. They may sometimes also be so severe as even to cause depression.

How it Works for OCD Cases

Thusly, the goal of a CBT treatment is to shed light, so to speak, on the cognitive properties of the obsession itself. What this means is to show to the patient how little logical sense the whole thing makes, and help him or her determine and fight the emotional charge which is surely the one behind the wheel on this one.

This is to say, CBT equips the OCD-ridden with a significant dose of rationality which he or she may use to the person's advantage and fight this form of anxiety, as the thoughts which are causing it.

Conclusively, the patient is always just as on his or her own to provide the resistance needed to not give in to the compulsion, as CBT is his or her most valuable tool to achieving a sufficient amount of it.