Can OCD be Cured

9 Minutes

Edited & medically reviewed by THE BALANCE Team

Fact checked

If you have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and are considering therapy for it, you might be wondering whether it can truly cure your condition. This article will discuss OCD, its treatment options, and whether or not they can cure it.

As a chronic condition, OCD is impossible to fix; for most people, it cannot be cured completely. However, the good news is that during the past few decades, professional treatment for this psychiatric issue has progressed to the extent that it can help manage it significantly.

While there may or may not be a cure for OCD, therapy and medication can help control obsessions and compulsions so that they do not affect your daily life. For many, complete remission occurs, while the rest may experience an overall reduction in the frequency and severity of their symptoms.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a psychiatric issue comprising obsessive thoughts followed by compulsive behaviours. While there are many proposed definitions for this disorder, the above description is universally agreed upon as it highlights its two main features.

But what do obsessive thoughts mean, especially regarding OCD? The World Health Organisation defines these as unwanted, intrusive, or adverse thought content that may force people to focus their attention on something they find unpleasant. The four most familiar themes associated with OCD include:

Contamination and cleanliness
Taboo imagery and thinking, associated with subjects that are considered morally blasphemous, reprehensible, or rejected by the society
Counting, ordering, and organisation of different items
Catastrophising a tragic event happening to self or a loved one

Worrying too much about the topics mentioned above causes individuals with OCD a high level of frustration and anguish. These emotions deplete their energy levels and lower their mental and emotional reserves.

The other side of OCD includes compulsive thinking or behaviour that forces people to commit certain acts to rid themselves of these compulsions. For example, someone who obsessively imagines their loved ones being attacked by a group of robbers may develop the habit of snapping their fingers to get rid of these thoughts. While these compulsive behaviours are initially adopted as a way to self-soothe from obsessive thinking, they cease to impose a calming effect on the brain with time. Instead, they incorporate into the very order they were meant to save a person from. Consequently, the afflicted may be compelled to snap their fingers whenever they imagine their family being robbed without getting any calming benefit from this act.

Several long-term studies suggest that up to 70 per cent of people diagnosed with OCD experience symptom remission. These statistics are encouraging and suggest recovery as an achievable goal for many with this disorder. A typical treatment approach for OCD includes the following:

Medication

Several medications have been approved by health authorities to overcome OCD UK. Most of these drugs belong to a specific category of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Although famous for managing depression, these medications are equally effective in treating OCD and other anxiety disorders too. They aim to correct the chemical imbalances in an OCD-struck brain by enhancing the number of serotonin neurotransmitters in the central nervous system.

Professionals suggest undergoing augmentation therapy for someone who has tried the standard OCD medication but has not succeeded in overcoming their symptoms. This therapy incorporates a strategy to improve the chances of relieving the symptoms of the underlying psychiatric disorder while taking medication side by side. Augmentation therapy relies on a combination of drugs instead of a single medication to enhance the overall therapeutic effect.

Psychotherapy

The most effective treatment to cure OCD is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), with a special emphasis on the element of exposure and response prevention (ERP). In this combined psychotherapy session, patients learn to navigate their experiences differently, confront their fears, and choose different behaviours responding to compulsive feelings, sensations, and thoughts.

Regular sessions of CBT with ERP can also help you:

Understand that thinking is behaviour, and thinking about your experience in different ways can make you more or less likely to use effective responses
Identify that having unwanted sensations, feelings, and thoughts does not make you a bad person. These experiences are a part of human nature, and blaming yourself for having them is a symptom of your OCD
Practice how to stay with your urges and observe them. Doing so makes you witness the dynamic nature of these urges and helps you stop responding to them compulsively.
Open up about your unwanted feelings and thoughts, embrace them, and even celebrate them, as doing so allows them to freely pass through your mind instead of keeping them stuck in the brain.
Learn how to appreciate yourself for who you are instead of committing every waking moment to suppress your unwanted feelings and thoughts

All of the above are desired outcomes of CBT and ERP. For a significant number of OCD sufferers, these outcomes are truly accessible and result in reducing the symptoms and other factors that define having OCD. So you might presume that this means CBT with ERP cures the disorder because it disqualifies you from meeting the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of the disorder.

Miscellaneous Treatments

Estimates suggest that up to 40 per cent of people with diagnosed OCD do not respond well to the treatment options explained above. For such people, experts resort to choosing other less common treatment modalities. Some of these options include:

Deep brain stimulation
Electroconvulsive therapy
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Evidence suggests that treatments targeting specific brain circuits can potentially reduce the OCD symptoms in unresponsive individuals to the first-line therapies. Deep brain stimulation is worth considering in this aspect.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has also been studied as a possible alternative treatment method for OCD. So far, the evidence regarding its efficacy offers mixed reviews. Neurosurgery also remains an option with procedures like cingulotomy and capsulotomy, in which experts create lesions on specific brain areas. These procedures are used only when all remaining treatment options have failed to provide sufficient relief.

In addition to seeking professional treatment, there are certain steps you can take to manage the symptoms of OCD on your own. These include the following:

Diet and Exercise

Abnormal blood sugar levels can significantly affect your energy levels and mood. Hence, try eating healthy and nutritious foods to keep them stable and give your body the nutrients it needs to stay strong. Physical activity is equally important in improving mental and physical health. To keep yourself physically active, consider engaging in the following activities:

Swimming
Yoga
Walking
Dance
Chair-based experiences, especially for people with mobility issues

Relaxation

Anxiety and stress only make the OCD symptoms worse and harder to manage. Hence, practice relaxation exercises to keep the stress levels to a minimum. An essential part of relaxation is ensuring you get enough sleep every night. If you are struggling with insomnia or a disturbed sleep-wake cycle, talk to a healthcare provider about what you can do about it.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness has proven to be highly effective in supporting recovery from OCD. Its basic concept and principles are routinely woven into CBT as well. However, you can also practice these principles on your own at home by participating in the following activities:

Yoga
Tai chi
Meditation
Progressive muscle relaxation
Guided imagery
Breathing exercises

Social Support

Even if you are not willing to talk openly about your struggles with OCD, spending some time with family and friends can make you feel more supported and comfortable. Additionally, you may join an OCD support group to get additional benefits. A support group can:

Give you a platform to socialise with others who face similar issues and can understand your experiences better
Help you feel less isolated
Provide reassurance and advice for managing OCD
Offer information or resources to you and your loved one to understand and manage OCD in a better way

FAQs

What does it mean to have intrusive thoughts in OCD?

Intrusive thoughts refer to the ideas that make their way into your consciousness, mostly without prompting or warning. The content of these thoughts is disturbing, weird, or flat-out alarming. While it is common for everyone to have these thoughts at some point in life, people with OCD tend to struggle with them daily as these thoughts get stuck, leading to a great deal of stress.

How long does it take to get relief from OCD?

Experts recommend continuing to seek help for OCD for as long as an individual needs it. Generally speaking, it takes at least six to twelve months for an average patient with uncomplicated OCD to recover from the disease. However, the recovery process may increase if the symptoms are severe, there are other co-occurring problems, or the patient is working at a slow pace. Long-term OCD often takes a heavy toll on everyday life, disturbing different aspects like career, socialisation, and more. Since the disease greatly hinders these activities, returning to them may take add some more time it takes to finish OCD treatment. Regardless of how long your recovery process is, it is crucial to get to the finish line. As far as OCD is concerned, there is no such thing as “partial recovery”, and people who tend to leave treatment the moment they start feeling better soon find themselves back to square one.

Why do people relapse after overcoming OCD?

A great majority of people fail to realise that once they achieve recovery, several things need to be observed if they wish to keep their symptoms under control. A failure to do so results in a relapse, with all the symptoms coming back in full swing. Some common reasons for OCD relapses include:
Avoiding an obsessive fear and allowing it to get out of hand by acting on the associated compulsion
Stopping medication without telling anyone
Failure to work closely with their therapist post-treatment

Can OCD be cured completely?

Unfortunately, there is no permanent or complete cure for OCD. Even after seeking multiple rounds of treatment, there is still a risk of relapse. However, it is possible to minimise this risk by practising self-care tips, being regular with the therapist in the follow-up sessions, and taking the medications as prescribed. If you closely follow your proposed long-term treatment plan, you can successfully overcome the majority of the discomforting symptoms.

HOW THE BALANCE CAN HELP WITH OCD

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