Presented by Daniel Toriola
In OCD, sufferers experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome impulses and doubts which they find hard to
ignore. Obsessions are the impulses people have which reoccur over and over again.
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Treatment For OCD
By Karen Hastings, Hertfordshire
OCD is a common problem that can be overcome with CBT, either by using a CBT based self-help
book or via more intensive therapist support.
OCD is characterised by obsessions and compulsions. An obsession is a persistent thought, image or
urge that comes into your mind and sets off feelings of anxiety and distress. These obsessions occur
frequently, are intrusive and not easy to get rid of. For example, common obsessions in OCD include,
thoughts or images of violence, blasphemous thoughts, fear of contamination, sexual thoughts or
images and excessive concern with health. In OCD a compulsion is an act or ritual that is repeated and
repeated in reaction to an obsessive thought. A compulsion may be an behavioural act such as
repeatedly checking the door is locked or a mental act such as saying something or picturing
something to make the distressing feeling, associated with the obsessive thought feel better.
Usually when I treat people for OCD at my CBT therapy practice in Hertfordshire, I find that the method
that the person with OCD uses to cope with or solve their OCD, is the very factor keeping their OCD
going. This is because people with OCD commonly give a special meaning or powerfulness to their
obsessive thoughts, usually that having the thought will lead to something bad happening to
themselves or others. As a consequence, the person will usually mistakenly believe that the way to
solve the obsessive thought is to try to block it or carry out a compulsion to "undo" the thought. What
we know