Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Fast Facts: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- In the United States, approximately 1 million children and adolescents, or approximately 1 in 200 children suffer from OCD.
- Because of its genetic link, OCD typically runs through family lines.
- While OCD is more common than a number of other adolescent disorders, its presence is often hidden due to embarrassment or the pain it causes.
What is it?
Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is an anxiety disorder where obsessions (unnecessary recurrent fears, thoughts, or mental images) and compulsions (actions performed repeatedly to relieve anxiety or avoid an imagined threat) impair a person's ability to function and/or where they suffer emotional pain.
What causes it?
The best guess for the cause of OCD involves improper functioning of the brain chemical serotonin. This condition appears to be passed genetically within families, although its presence is often kept secret, and can begin quite early in life.
How do you know when someone has it?
Some symptoms of OCD include:
- Repeatedly forcing oneself to think new thoughts to displace an obsession
- Unnecessary rituals or repeated acts, such as re-cleaning or re-straightening something, washing hands, counting, etc.
What can happen to people with Obsessive Compulsive Behavior?
It generally depends on whether or not people receive treatment. With the proper treatment, individuals can usually function normally without the normal severe emotional pain. In the absence of treatment, however, the sufferer often alternates between mild and more severe periods for the rest of their life.
How do you help a loved one suffering from OCD?
Normal treatment for OCD involves therapy and often medicine. A common objective of the therapy is to face the fears that cause the anxiety and learn to address them without resorting to the rituals and nervous habits of the past. Certain antidepressant medicines have also been effective for some individuals with OCD as well.
How CERTS helps those with OCD
CERTS therapists have experience in successfully treating individuals with OCD. This is done through a combination of therapy and medication, where appropriate. Their success is augmented by the CERTS formula of balancing outstanding clinical therapy, experiential therapy, and education, along with appropriate medical care.
Experiential therapy programs (such as equine therapy) offered at the facilities have also proven helpful. A fun and challenging academic education enhances self-esteem and encourages students to rediscover the joy of learning while they clinically stabilize. To learn more about which CERTS program can best offer the help you may require, please contact a CERTS admissions counselor at 801-755-8802.
Learn More About OCD
American Psychiatric Association
Kid's Health
National Institute of Mental Health
New York Presbyterian Hospital
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