Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCD) Treatment

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling condition that affects nearly 3% of people worldwide. The team at Online Psychiatrists, led by Dr. Zlatin Ivanov, M.D., provides advanced, evidence-based treatments to help patients regain control over their lives. Call Dr. Ivanov today for an appointment.

What Is OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder causes intrusive worrying that leads you to repeatedly perform certain behaviors to reduce your anxiety and stress. Despite your best efforts to ignore these thoughts and focus on other, more productive, or enjoyable activities, you feel obligated to complete those repetitive tasks and ritualistic behaviors.

You’re not alone in your condition, and you needn’t feel shame or embarrassment about your compulsions.

Approximately 8.2 million adults in the United States suffer from OCD - close to the number of people living in New York City.

Online Psychiatrists welcomes adults between 19 and 65 years of age. A dedicated psychiatrist who specializes in treating OCD cases offers in-person treatment and remote telepsychiatry and videopsychiatry sessions if you prefer to avoid the travel and receive online OCD therapy in the comfort of your own home.

With OCD, these thoughts become obsessions that lead to repetitive behaviors or compulsions that interfere with your daily life. You end up with two choices, neither of which are helpful:

• Become frustrated because of the amount of time and energy you waste satisfying the compulsions
• Feel burdened with elevated anxiety if you don’t satisfy the compulsions

To fight OCD tendencies, you must learn to differentiate between a conscientious desire for perfection and an endless thought that you can’t shake. The people close to you have probably pointed out the difference countless times.

What Symptoms Require OCD Treatment?

Those diagnosed with Obsessive-compulsive disorder usually battle both intrusive thoughts and repetitive actions, but occasionally, you only experience one or the other. Untreated, these thoughts and behaviors can take up inordinate amounts of time and energy. You may require treatment for OCD if your symptoms cause you distress. Symptoms include:

• Repeated thoughts about contamination and dirt
• Persistent worries about uncertainty
• An obsessive need to have things orderly and symmetrical
• Scary, unwanted feelings about violence, aggression, sexual activity, or religious subjects
• Persistent thoughts about hurting yourself or someone else
• Incessant concerns regarding simple actions, such as locking doors or turning off the stove
• Frightening images of yourself performing violent acts
• Uncontrollable fear of other people’s germs from shaking hands or touching things that others have touched
• Repetitive and unpleasant sexual thoughts or images

Some people suffering from OCD often perform complicated, ritualistic behaviors to overcome the anxiety these intrusive thoughts and images produce. Common behaviors include:

• Relentlessly checking and rechecking — a locked door, for example
• Counting in specific patterns
• Excessively washing hands and cleaning surfaces
• Adhering to an overly strict routine
• Requiring exact orderliness in objects, such as all the cans in your pantry lined up and facing the same direction
• Spiritual individuals often repeat phrases, words, or prayers, afraid that if they don’t do it the correct number of times, the obsessive subject grows in power.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms often begin in teens and young adults, although young children can also exhibit signs of OCD. The symptoms tend to start slowly and grow over time or as a response to stress. Recognizing your symptoms is the first step.

Patient Experience

OCD Themes

People with OCD have intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that form specific themes. Understanding these themes can help doctors understand how OCD shows up and what types of treatment can be the most effective. Common OCD themes include:

• Contamination: fear of illness, gems, or becoming contaminated.
• Symmetry and Order: a strong need for objects or arrangements to be perfect or symmetrical.
• Safety and Checking: a fear of danger or harm, leading to repeated checking behaviors.
• Relationship Obsessions: intrusive doubts or fears about one’s romantic relationship or partner.
• Hoarding: obsessive accumulation of items due to fear of losing something important.
• Magical Thinking: strong belief that certain actions or thoughts can affect events.

What Are the Causes of OCD?

It’s unclear exactly why anyone develops OCD. Genetics, upbringing, and environment seem to play a part. OCD can occur alone or in tandem with other mental health disorders, such as:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Substance abuse

During your evaluation at our well-equipped OCD and anxiety treatment center, your doctor gives you a thorough physical exam, followed by a psychological evaluation that may include questioning members of your family and close friends. Whatever your issues are, be open and forthright with your therapist.

The team at Online Psychiatrists is dedicated to helping individuals cope with and change problematic thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Our OCD therapists offer evidence-based treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) as well as antidepressant medication such as Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Dr. Zlatin Ivanov has decades of experience and is specially trained to provide high-quality, compassionate care with the goals of reestablishing your thought patterns, eliminating or significantly reducing anxiety, discomfort, or fear, and helping disengage from the rituals.

What Does OCD Therapy in NYC Look Like?

Once you’ve been diagnosed with OCD, talk to your therapist about effective treatment to prevent your symptoms from becoming debilitating. Your psychiatrist may decide on an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder treatment that involves both medication and psychotherapy. The best treatment for OCD is typically a form of cognitive behavioral therapy combined with FDA-approved OCD medicine.

Medications

Medications can effectively control OCD. The first meds prescribed for OCD are SSRIs, including:

• Zoloft
• Fluvoxamine
• Paxil
• Prozac

These medications influence different chemical messengers in the brain to help brain cells communicate more effectively, and work best when paired with CBT.

TCAs such as Clomipramine (Anafranil) may be used if SSRIs do not help improve OCD. TCAs are older than SSRIs, but they work in the same way by changing serotonin neurotransmission in the brain and helping with stress, attention, emotions, and behavior control.

According to a study published on PubMed, patients who took Clomipramine report about a 40% to 50% reduction in their symptoms.

If SSRIs alone do not alleviate your symptoms, your specially trained mental health therapist may try combining them with TCAs. Tell your therapist about any medications you’re currently taking to prevent any adverse reactions or side effects.

Don’t stop taking your antidepressants without informing your therapist because you may experience withdrawal symptoms.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy often relies on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT incorporates exposure and response prevention, which desensitizes your anxieties and fears. Your therapist teaches you ways to resist your compulsive urges. Gradually, you’re exposed to things that used to bother you the most. Learning to manage your thoughts and behaviors puts you back in control of your life.

ERP Therapy for OCD

When it comes to treating OCD, therapy is the first line of defense. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), a specific form of CBT, is the most effective treatment option.

The idea behind ERP is to create discomfort and work through it with the help of a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating OCD cases. Exposure therapy starts by exposing you to objects and circumstances that provoke anxiety, but one that you can bear. You will notice that your anxiousness does not rise as high and does not linger as long after the first few times. After that, you'll go to increasingly challenging exposure exercises.

Under the guidance of thoroughly trained specialists, patients undergoing ERP therapy can gradually minimize their anxieties and break the OCD cycle. ERP is a highly effective treatment for many patients suffering from OCD, and according to a study published on NCBI, up to half of those who receive ERP as a monotherapy or in combination with medication would report reduced symptoms after just one treatment.

Is OCD Therapy Covered by Insurance?

To say free of limits imposed by insurance companies, our doctors and therapists are not members of any insurance panels. You can, however, call your insurance company to see whether you have coverage for out-of-network providers (PPO insurance).

You may be able to get a portion of the cost of therapy reimbursed if your insurance plan covers out-of-network benefits. Furthermore, you may want to discuss the necessity for specialized OCD treatment in the form of exposure and response prevention (ERP) to determine whether a higher rate of reimbursement for services is available.

For treatment-resistant cases, other options may include intensive outpatient or inpatient programs, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), or deep brain stimulation (DBS)

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