Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, commonly abbreviated as OCD, is a chronic anxiety disorder that causes an individual to experience a seemingly irresistible urge to do something over and over again.
OCD is more than a routine or a habit. This disorder will often disrupt a person’s daily functions since they feel unable to continue with their day before submitting to their obsessions. Any sort of variance from these compulsive behaviors will cause an intense amount of stress on the individual, even if they logically realize that ignoring their urges will not be catastrophic.
What is an Obsession?
An obsession describes a repeated thought, impulse, or mental image that brings on a sudden fear or distress. Common types of obsessions in those with OCD include a need to be clean or free of contamination, a need to have items perfectly balanced and aligned, or to have unwanted thoughts of taboo topics such as sex, harm, or religion.
What is a Compulsion?
With OCD, a compulsion is the repetitive behavior that a person feels driven to perform in response to their obsession. For example, if an individual is obsessed with contamination, their compulsion would typically involve thoroughly washing their hands or a common surface many times a day.
As a person tries to resist their compulsions, their distress can build up to a boiling point wherein it feels as though they will not be able to tolerate their feelings if they do not give in to their obsessions. Submitting to the compulsion may bring a moment of relief, but this is often immediately followed by feelings of shame and guilt for being unable to resist the repetitive behaviors once again. It also reinforces the belief that they “must” complete the compulsive behavior to rid themself of the obsession and related distress causing a vicious and unending cycle of anxiousness and actually increasing the likelihood of experiencing continued obsessions and compulsions.
How Does Queen City Counseling & Consulting Diagnose OCD?
Each case of obsessive-compulsive disorder is unique, even if patients share certain compulsions or obsessions. The technical definition that separates a routine habit from a compulsion is that compulsions:
- Consume at least one hour or more of the individual’s day
- Feel uncontrollable
- Affect important daily functions such as social interactions or completing work
OCD is a common condition that affects a small percentage of the entire population. Those afflicted with this disorder will usually exhibit symptoms during childhood, but many will not be diagnosed until their late teenage years due to difficulties differentiating OCD and other types of anxiety as well as misunderstandings about obsessive thoughts—particularly those related to more sensitive content areas such as harm or sex. Stigma, either internalized in the person suffering from these thoughts or from reactions they receive from others if they do share their thoughts, can unfortunately delay diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Screenings for OCD are very helpful at identifying key signs of the condition earlier in life, which can help individuals to develop and maintain positive coping mechanisms for their obsessions.
What Treatment Options Are There for OCD?
It is common practice to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder with a combination of medications and therapy. It may be necessary to try a few different medications in order to identify which one(s) work best for you.
There are also a few different methodologies regarding therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The gold standard treatment for OCD which has robust evidence supporting it is Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). Additional therapies such as Inference Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are gaining evidence and are often used adjunctively with ERP. While not every treatment will work for everyone, few people suffering from OCD find relief without incorporating ERP. Therefore, it is crucial to work with an OCD specialist trained in ERP to create an individualized treatment plan for you and your specific concerns.
Break Free from the Cycle of OCD
Living with obsessive-compulsive disorder can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. At Queen City Counseling & Consulting in Charlotte, NC, our experienced clinicians provide evidence-based treatment for teens and young adults, helping them manage obsessive, intrusive thoughts and break the cycle of compulsions. With compassionate care and proven treatment strategies, we can guide you toward relief and a better quality of life. Call (704) 457-8222 today or reach out through our secure online form to start your journey toward freedom from OCD.
Anxiety/OCD Resources
Reputable Websites for additional resources:
- International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/
- Anxiety and Depression Association of America: https://adaa.org/
- Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions: https://www.spacetreatment.net/
- The National Insitute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): https://www.nami.org/
Books recommended by our clinicians
Breaking Free of Child Anxiety & OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents.
Provides a completely parent-based treatment program for child and adolescent anxiety. Parents will learn how to alleviate their children’s anxiety by changing the way they themselves respond to their children’s symptoms–importantly, parents are not required to impose changes on their children’s behavior. Instead, parents are shown how to replace their own accommodating behaviors (which allow anxiety to flourish) with supportive responses that demonstrate both acceptance of children’s difficulties and confidence in their ability to cope. From understanding child anxiety and OCD, to learning how to talk with an anxious child, to avoiding common traps and pitfalls (such as being overly protective or demanding) to identifying the ways in which parents have been enabling a child’s anxious behaviors, this book is full of detailed guidance and practical suggestions. Worksheets are included to help parents translate the book’s suggestions into action, and the book’s compassionate and personable tone will make it a welcoming resource for any concerned parent.
Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents
With anxiety at epidemic levels among our children, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents offers a contrarian yet effective approach to help children and teens push through their fears, worries, and phobias to ultimately become more resilient, independent, and happy. Reid Wilson, PhD, and Lynn Lyons, LICSW, share their unconventional approach of stepping into uncertainty in a way that is currently unfamiliar but infinitely successful. Using current research and contemporary examples, the book exposes the most common anxiety-enhancing patterns—including reassurance, accommodation, avoidance, and poor problem solving—and offers a concrete plan with 7 key principles that foster change. And, since new research reveals how anxious parents typically make for anxious children, the book offers exercises and techniques to change both the children’s and the parental patterns of thinking and behaving.
Playing with Anxiety
The companion book to Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons’ parenting book, ANXIOUS KIDS, ANXIOUS PARENTS: 7 WAYS TO STOP THE WORRY CYCLE AND RAISE COURAGEOUS & INDEPENDENT CHILDREN (HCI Books, 2013), Casey includes stories of everyday encounters—imagining warm chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven, brother Elliot’s MARSH MAN comic book—as well as surprising feats—the accidental discovery of Post-it Notes, Benjamin’s uncle Steve’s jump from the helicopter, blind Eric Weihenmayer’s climb of the Seven Summits—to show the reader how to face the trials of the middle years. The narrative offers cautious kids (and their sometimes worried, often frustrated parents) a realistic guide for stepping into the new and scary experiments that arrive at each developmental stage, right up through the teen years.
Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts
In this compassionate guide, you’ll discover the different kinds of disturbing thoughts, myths that surround your thoughts, and how your brain has a tendency to get “stuck” in a cycle of unwanted rumination. You’ll also learn why common techniques to get rid of these thoughts can backfire. And finally, you’ll learn powerful cognitive behavioral skills to help you cope with and move beyond your thoughts, so you can focus on living the life you want. Your thoughts will still occur, but you will be better able to cope with them—without dread, guilt, or shame.
This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation—an honor bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.
Podcast:
Anxiety toolkit Podcast: Kimberly Quinlan
Kimberley is an LMFT out of Calabasas California and is dedicated to providing outstanding therapy and counseling for those with OCD and related disorders, Eating Disorders and Body Focused Repetitive Disorders. Kimberley is also passionate about advocating for those with Mental Health Disorders. Kimberley is dedicated to ongoing advocacy and education within the community for OCD, Eating Disorders and BFRB’s.
Kimberley is passionate about providing evidence-based treatment that assists her clients with reaching their goals and improving their quality of life. Her approach is both collaborative and compassionate. Kimberley has extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD and OCD-related disorders and also teaches other clinicians how to provide quality CBT and ERP for OCD and OCD related disorders.
https://kimberleyquinlan-lmft.com/category/podcast/
The OCD Stories: Stuart Ralph
The OCD Stories podcast is a show that aims to offer hope and inspiration. Host Stuart Ralph interviews some of the best minds in OCD treatment and recovery. By providing good reliable and heartfelt information through interviews with inspired therapists, psychologists, and/or people who have experienced OCD, the podcast lights a path in the darkness and offers solutions. This podcast is for people who experience OCD, their families and loved ones, and therapists who work with OCD.
OCD Family Podcast: Nicole Morris, LMFT
Lead by LMFT Nicole Morris this podcast aims to create a community of support for family members, spouses, partners, parents, adult children (as there may be “adult” words) and chosen family of OCD Sufferers and their community. Episodes explore a range of topics related to OCD (intrusive thoughts, disgust, avoidance, exposures, various content areas of OCD and more!) and also include interviews with some of the most respected and well-known researchers and therapists working with OCD today.
https://www.ocdfamilypodcast.com/
YouTube Channel:
Helping your Child with Anxiety or OCD: Natasha Daniels
Natasha Daniels, a licensed child therapist and mom to three kids with OCD & anxiety, hosts this psychoeducational channel dedicated to helping parents support kids with OCD & anxiety—using practical, evidence-based strategies.
You’ll find:
- Parent education videos on child OCD and childhood anxiety
- Step-by-step tools to create a therapeutic home environment
- Support for managing compulsions, intrusive thoughts, and emotional regulation
- Guidance on reducing accommodations without damaging connection
- Curated videos made specifically for kids and teens to watch
This channel is your go-to resource whether you’re parenting a child with OCD, social anxiety, phobias, generalized anxiety, or body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs).