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"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken."

-Samuel Johnson (Fortunately, Johnson was wrong on one account: 

the chains of habit in OCD can be broken.)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Hand washing, intrusive thoughts that bother you, checking lights, checking locks, checking things you just checked, rituals that seem strange even to the person whose doing them.  We hope the preliminary information provided here will be useful.  To learn more, feel free to call or e-mail us.

How Common is OCD?

Experts used to believe that OCD was very uncommon.  Even today, people with OCD often feel like they are the only ones in the world who have the disorder.  The reality is that OCD is relatively common as psychological diagnoses go.  In an Epidemiological Catchment Area study (studies like these are big deals - mention one next time you talk with a psychologist and notice how impressed she or he gets!), the lifetime prevalence of OCD was 2.5%.  In other words, 1 in 40 people in the U.S. has had OCD at some point in their lives.  Over any six month period, 1.6% of people in the U.S. have a current diagnosis of OCD.  Based on this information, OCD is rated as the fourth most common psychological disorder in the U.S.  No, you are not the only one on the planet with OCD!

Soooo, what can be done about OCD?

Lots.  The treatment of choice for OCD is a specific type of psychotherapy called "Exposure with Response Prevention."  If you want to get fancy, you can just call it E/RP.  Some nice research on E/RP has been published, and the results are pretty consistent.  About 75% of people who try this approach have a significant reduction in symptoms.  It's effectiveness is better than any other psychotherapeutic approach or any medication for OCD.  One point that is important to note is that even though E/RP my have a better outcome rate than medications, sometimes it can be a good idea to use E/RP and medication together.  Depending on physicians' judgment, this may be the case if someone has serious OCD symptoms.  It's always a good idea to check with your psychologist and your physician to figure out what the best approach for you will be.

Another thing that is really important about E/RP is that is has a low relapse rate.  Once treatment is finished, often only the occasional booster session is needed to make sure that symptoms don't return.  

When does OCD usually show up?

The mean age at which OCD symptoms usually start to show up is from around 19 to 26 years of age.  For some mysterious reason, males tend to show symptoms earlier than females.  For males, the modal onset us usually around age 13 to 15.  For females, it's around 20-24.  Go figure.

Interestingly, about 30% of people with OCD report that they had symptoms when they were children.  

Once a person has OCD, the usual pattern is that it will not go away on its own.  Instead, for most folks it will stay around for a long time, with some brief periods when it decreases. 

Other fascinating bits of information:

People with OCD often have symptoms of other psychological diagnoses.  The most common are: specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and depression.  Also, women who have eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia often have symptoms of OCD. 

"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
-Alfred Hitchcock

Resources:

The Expert Consensus Guideline Series: Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Eds March, J.S., Frances, A., Carpenter, D., & Kahn, D.A. (Most of the information in this series has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.  However, we know of this resource from the web and did not see the JCP mentioned as the place where it was originally published.  We feel that providing appropriate credit for this excellent work is important and, therefore, are providing this link to help with providing appropriate documentation.)

Kozak, M.J. & Foa, E.B. (1997). Mastery of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A cognitive behavioral approach. Graywind Publications Incorporated.

Steketee, G.S. (1993) Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. New York: The Guilford Press.

Adult Psychology: (207) 865-9692

Child Psychology: (207) 588-0030

The information posted on this site reflects our understanding of peer-reviewed research and generally accepted principles in psychology.  It is not intended to be used for self-treatment or as a substitute for individualized assessment and treatment by a licensed professional, and should not be construed as professional advice.

Copyright © 2000 Sonnet Psychological, LLC