It then adds to that a number of relevant factors, such as how long you may have had these symptoms, how long they tend to last, and how much impairment they cause you. If you have a number of symptoms in the cluster and a number of the additional relevant factors, then you have something called a disorder, or a mental health condition.
I have one, apparently, or so have said every mental health professional I have asked help from. Being able to name disorders is essential for being able to study them, which is how we identify the treatments that are most likely to be effective. A treatment is considered effective when it results in a reduction of the symptoms and other factors that make up the disorder. By definition, once the symptoms and other factors fundamentally change or reduce, the disorder ceases to exist per the definition in the DSM-V.
The answer is complicated, because a funny thing happens on the way to this debate. It turns out the most effective treatment for OCD, the name of the disorder that explained to me what was causing so much unnecessary suffering, is cognitive behavioral therapy CBT with an emphasis on exposure and response prevention ERP.
What happens in CBT with ERP is you learn how to navigate your experience differently, how to confront your fears and how to choose different behaviors in response to your thoughts, feelings, and sensations than you might instinctively choose.
More specifically:. All of the above are desired outcomes of CBT and ERP and for a significant number of OCD sufferers, these outcomes are truly accessible and really result in a reduction of the symptoms and other factors that define having OCD. My kids are super cute and fill me with pride every day.
When I catch either of them at their most spectacular, I think two things with regularity: 1 I am the luckiest dad alive and 2 I am going to die early, probably in front of them, and their lives will be defined by having lost their father. People with fairly mild OCD usually need about 10 hours of therapist treatment, with exercises done at home between sessions. If you have more severe OCD, you may need a longer course of treatment.
The main medicines prescribed are a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs. Most people need treatment for at least a year.
You may be able to stop if you have few or no troublesome symptoms after this time, although some people need to take an SSRI for many years. Do not stop taking an SSRI without speaking to your doctor first because suddenly stopping can cause unpleasant side effects. Treatment will be stopped gradually to reduce the chance of getting side effects. Your dose may need to be increased again if your symptoms return.
Possible side effects of SSRIs include:. There's also a very small chance that SSRIs could cause you to have suicidal thoughts or want to self-harm. Larson, Paul. Deep Brain Stimulation for Psychiatric Disorders. Neurotherapeutics January 5: Schruers, K. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 15 February Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind.
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