Stress Management
Taking A Cognitive Approach To Treating OCD
About one in every fifty adults in the United States
has obsessive compulsive disorder. This condition interferes with the
individual’s ability to function normally on a daily basis because he
becomes overwhelmed with persistent thoughts and actions. Obsessive
compulsive disorder treatment is necessary for the individual to
overcome these all encompassing thoughts and repetitive actions.
We have all experienced the feeling that we left the stove on in
the kitchen when deep down we know we shut it off. We fret over the idea
of our home going up in smoke because of the oversight. Many of us find
ourselves thinking through the steps we took in the morning before we
left to come to the conclusion that we did indeed shut off the stove.
Other people are unable to do this.
An individual who has
obsessive compulsive disorder will go back to the home, check to see
that he did actually shut off the stove and leave again only to return
in a little while to check the stove again. The individual knows that
the stove is off but his thoughts and actions work against his mind.
One
of the most successful obsessive compulsive disorder treatments
available is cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy works with the
individual’s mind rather than his mood. This is an ideal obsessive
compulsive disorder treatment because it focuses on thought patterns and
it helps the patient exercise his brain.
Cognitive therapy is not
the best approach as a treatment for conditions like depression and
bipolar disorder because these are mood disorders that hinge on an
individual’s emotions rather than his cognitive functioning. While it is
difficult to think yourself out of a mood you can definitely reap the
benefits of using cognition as an obsessive compulsive disorder
treatment.
The disorder starts as a thought. The thought
perseverates over and over interrupting proper cognitive functioning.
These irrational, repetitive thoughts move into the individual’s
behavior patterns. Common behaviors exhibited by a person who has this
disorder include but are not limited to: checking locks, washing hands,
opening and closing windows as well as other ritualistic patterns of
behavior.
Taking a cognitive approach for obsessive compulsive
disorder treatment is the first step in gaining control of the thought
patterns that lead to the behavior patterns. Once the thoughts are under
control the individual finds that the repetitive behavior and craving
for order diminish significantly. Gradually with regular obsessive
compulsive disorder treatment the individual is able to function on a
relatively normal basis.