Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is debilitating for you and negatively impacts your entire family.
Win the battle over your OCD for you and your family at our OCD treatment centers.
At Bridges to Recovery inpatient anxiety treatment centers, we offer:
- World class OCD treatment that helps you learn the underlying causes of your obsessive compulsive behavior and how to address them
- A residential setting that is comfortable, peaceful and safe
- Completely individualized attention and support from pre-testing through aftercare planning
Call us today at 877-386-3398. The initial consultation is free!
OCD Residential Treatment Center
Individual therapy four times per week and regular visits with our staff psychiatrist are part of our clinical OCD treatment approach. Learning to recognize the opportunities of time between impulsive thoughts and impulsive behaviors are part of the recovery process. In addition, the recovery process is aided by getting treatment within a residential facility where you can live comfortably.
What causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
There are a number of theories as to what lies beneath obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). One prominent school of thought is that an anxiety disorder develops when children come to fear their own unconscious impulses and use defense mechanisms to lessen the resulting anxiety. What distinguishes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder from other anxiety disorders is that the battle between anxiety-provoking internal impulses and anxiety-reducing defense mechanisms is not buried in the unconscious but rather is played out in explicit and dramatic thoughts and actions. The internal impulses usually take the form of obsessive thoughts, and the defenses appear as counter-thoughts or compulsions.
What are Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Symptoms?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted, tormenting, and persistent thoughts or ideas. The thoughts feel both intrusive and foreign to people that experience them. The thought may be offensive because it represents a blatant sexual or aggressive idea, or it may be neutral. Attempts to ignore or resist these thoughts may arouse even more anxiety, and before long they come back stronger than ever. In Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, obsessions are more than just thoughts; rather, they are impulses to perform some disturbing deed. Those suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder seldom act out their hostile or sexual fantasies, but they live in dread that they will. They are quite aware that their thoughts are excessive and inappropriate, yet they are experienced as repugnant and painful.
Compulsive actions are another component of this disabling syndrome. These are repetitive acts an individual feels compelled to carry out without understanding as to why. If you have ever left for a vacation and returned home to check if you had locked the front door or left the oven on, then you may have some insight into the relationship between an obsessive thought and a compulsive action. The behaviors, or "rituals", are often carried out in hopes of preventing or stopping the unwanted thoughts and reducing anxiety. Compulsive rituals only provide temporary relief, but not performing them dramatically increases anxiety. Common sources of anxiety for victims of OCD include being contaminated by germs or dirt, requiring the sufferer to wash repeatedly, incessant doubt requiring the person to check the locks, doors, and windows over and over, or a desire for order requiring straightening, the repetition of words, praying, or counting. These symptoms cause significant distress and interfere with daily life. Sufferers of OCD often realize that their behavior is excessive or unreasonable. But they are unable to stop them. This can make the suffering embarrassing and unbearable.
Example of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
An example which vividly conveys obsessive symptoms and their intimate connection to compulsive acts:
"Shirley K., a twenty three year old housewife, came to the clinic with a complaint of frequent attacks of headaches and dizziness. During the preceding three months she had been disturbed by recurring thoughts that she might harm her two year old son, Saul, either by stabbing or choking him [the obsessive thought]. She constantly had to go into his room, touch the baby, and feel him breathe in order to reassure herself that Saul was alive [the compulsive act]; otherwise, she became unbearably anxious. If she read a report in the daily paper of the murder of a child, she would become agitated, since this reinforced her fear that she too might act on her impulse. Shirley turned to the interviewer and asked, with desperation, whether this meant that she was 'going crazy' " (Goldstein and Palmer, 1975)
No matter how elaborate the complex of obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals of the sufferer, they do not reduce anxiety. Most people suffering from OCD report constant tension and dissatisfaction with their lives, and it is not unusual for this dissatisfaction to blend imperceptibly into feelings of depression.
Our OCD treatment center offers OCD treatment in a residential setting. You will live comfortable and be under our care while you receive world class anxiety treatment and OCD treatment at one of our facilities.
Get effective OCD treatment at Bridges to Recovery. Call 1-877-386-3398 now.
