What are some current trends in diagnosis and treatment of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)?

Answer 1

Some of the current trends in diagnosis and treatment of OCD. First, let's start with a definition. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with an anxiety disorder worries excessively about the circumstances of his or her over a long period of time. OCD characterized by distressing thoughts never seem to go away. These thoughts are often accompanied by images that are powerful, unusual, frightening or absurd.

Some typical obsessions include:

Fear of dirt, germs, or contamination
A desire to perform violence on other people
A feeling of responsibility for other people's safety
Fear of hitting a pedestrian with a car
Excessive religious feelings
Intense sexual thoughts

Symptoms

While some children may experience OCD, symptoms usually begin when a person reaches adolescence. While everyone has a tendency to double check to make sure that the doors are locked or the stove is turned off when leaving the house, the compulsions of OCD sufferers are so great that they may interfere with daily life. Individuals with the disorder have been known to wash their hands for hours at a time or to rearrange and clean their household several times throughout a day. They usually recognize that their behavior is irrational, but they have no control over their actions.

Diagnosis

Psychiatrists diagnose obsessive-compulsive disorder based on the described symptoms. No blood tests or other kinds of laboratory tests are available for diagnosing OCD. Many people with the condition are never diagnosed or are diagnosed only after many years. The delay in diagnosis is due to the shame that many patients feel about their condition. They become skillful at hiding their symptoms from other people.

Treatments

Two forms of treatment are used with obsessive-compulsive behavior: drugs and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The drugs used with OCD are designed to alter the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain. They include fluoxetine (pronounced floo-AHK-suh-teen, trade name Prozac), paroxetine (pronounced par-AHK-suh-teen, trade name Paxil), and sertraline (pronounced SIR-truh-leen, trade name Zoloft). An older drug that is sometimes used is clomipramine (pronounced KLO-mip-ruh-meen, trade name Anafranil). However, Clomipramine has more side effects than the newer drugs listed.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a form of counseling conducted by trained medical professionals. The goal is to help patients understand the basis of their disorder. They are encouraged to accept the fact that they have fears and obsessive thoughts. Then they are helped to find ways to tolerate the conditions that cause their anxiety and avoid performing the ritualistic activities of their compulsions. Patients sometimes find it helpful to think about other things by taking up a hobby or finding activities of interest.

Some patients do not benefit from drugs or cognitive-behavioral therapy. Brain surgery is the treatment of last resort with these patients. Surgery involves removing the small part of the brain that controls compulsive behavior. The surgery is successful in about a third of all cases. It may have very serious side effects, however, including seizures, personality changes, and loss of some mental functions.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Some of the newer anti-depressant medications also work for people who suffer with OCD. The only other option is your own behavior modification.

Answer 4

I dunno. I've tried a treatment of 20 years in designing/writing software. But the problem seems to be getting worse.

Alcohol has an effect. It's a subjective judgement, whether the effect of good or bad.