Join Janet at the Annual IOCDF conference in the Windy City
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is NOT rare and often it’s not what people think at all.
When I teach mental health professionals and physicians, I advise them to screen everyone complaining of “anxiety” for OCD. Anxiety is not a diagnosis. We all have anxiety to one degree or another. However, we don’t all have OCD. OCD can become a very disruptive and disabling condition. Most people have no idea how impairing this disorder can become. That is why the OCD community gets so upset when people casually say “I am sooooo OCD”. Stop trivializing the suffering of people living with OCD. OCD is not a superpower!
Too often people come to me with the diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD, a relatively easy diagnosis to make. But the clinician missed the boat regarding the OCD diagnosis. And this is a serious problem. Over my past 40 years in practice I have noticed how reticent clinicians are to officially make this diagnosis. In my opinion, EVERY person reporting “anxiety”, especially chronic anxiety, should be screened for OCD. It is considered a neurobiological or brain based disorder and it is genetic. However, there is still a lot we do not know about OCD - it’s a rather mysterious disorder. It often co-exists with other disorders like ADHD/ADD, tic disorder, anxiety disorders and depression.
Unfortunately, many mental health professionals do not screen for OCD and they do not understand how this disorder shows up in people’s lives. It is not just about contamination fears and handwashing behaviors and checking stuff and flicking the light switch on and off. Yes you can have OCD even if you are not compulsively washing your hands or checking the stove over and over or flicking the light switch on and off. There is so much misunderstanding about this disorder.
Too often people suffer with the impact of OCD for many years before it is properly diagnosed. The earlier in life that the diagnosis is made the better. Early diagnosis is so important so we can teach kids and their parents how to control the symptoms and stop them from getting worse.
Family accommodation or FA is the number one reason OCD gets worse. Loving caring family members participate in the rituals because they don’t want to see their loved one suffer. I see people who have lived with OCD for years and years and have had been misdiagnosed and provided with the wrong therapy interventions … therapy interventions that have actually backfired and done harm. I want to scream every time I hear a client tell me the clinician told them to wear a rubber band on their wrist and just snap it when they get an intrusive unwanted thought. And telling people with OCD to imagine putting their worries on a leaf and floating them down the river is NOT therapy for OCD. The degree of ignorance out there about OCD is just too high. And sometimes clinicians simply say “oh, we all have some OCD”. Not true!
There is effective treatment for OCD but the therapy is specialized and the average consumer of psychological services is often not aware of the importance of getting the right therapy. The other major problem is the lack of training in medical school and psychology programs about OCD. If you are seeking help for OCD and the clinician has no idea about Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) then you have the wrong clinician.
Join me at the International OCD Foundation conference in July. It’s a great conference and it’s for everyone, clinicians and kids and adults with lived experience. It has top notch experts giving classes on all kinds of topics.
Let’s learn together and help reduce the stigma and shame faced by people living with OCD.
Hope to see you in Chicago!
Janet
Professional Director
Alberta OCD Foundation