Anxiety and OCD

(I’m including an OCD disclaimer at the end, make sure to take a look before you leave this page)

If you grew up in a family or community where mental health was not discussed, you might assume that your excessive worrying and fear is part of being a human. All humans experience worry, fear, or even panic from time to time.

Sometimes situations or circumstances like losing a job or breaking up with a partner can temporarily cause an increase in anxiety symptoms. Typically, your anxiety goes away once you’ve adjusted to the changes. But outside of any recent and major changes, if you’re still constantly worried, tense, or irritable and have trouble eating properly, getting enough sleep, or concentrating, you might have anxiety. In other words, things could be going “well” but you may not be able to shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen and you won’t be able to cope.

Most of us cope with anxiety by avoiding our triggers. Unfortunately, avoidance increases anxiety. So how do you break the cycle?

In our sessions, I will teach you how to manage your anxiety. We will identify the relationship between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors so that you can learn to rewire your anxious brain. We will challenge cognitive distortions (unhelpful and unproductive thoughts) and replace them with more neutral, realistic thoughts. Over time, this leads to decreased anxiety. You will learn how various mindfulness and healthy coping skills can help to keep you living in the present rather than rehashing past mistakes or dreading future problems.

We will reduce your avoidance behaviors by planning safe exposures to your anxiety triggers. These behavioral experiments will help you test the validity of those cognitive distortions and fears. In other words, when you face your fears, and you’re able to use your coping skills, you discover that you’re capable and resilient.

It’s important to note that OCD and anxiety should not be used interchangeably. In fact, most of the population has a poor understanding of OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) does not mean you’re a “Type A” person or high strung. It isn’t a synonym for being clean or tidy, and it’s not just having intrusive thoughts that you left the front door unlocked. OCD includes a combination of obsessions (unwanted intrusive thoughts/images/urges causing distress) and compulsions (behaviors completed to reduce the obsessions and emotional distress). For more information, see: The International OCD Foundation

The treatment for OCD involves a behavioral therapy called Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy.  Exposure and Response Prevention, the gold standard of OCD treatment, is a type of CBT therapy that involves exposing the client to the triggers and preventing the compulsions that maintain the OCD. It is structured, gradual, and involves continuous collaboration between the client and therapist. For more information about this, please see : https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/gad-and-ocd