OCD Treatment Clinics

Can I treat my OCD without the use of medication?

OCD is a sort of coping mechanism gone wrong in which patients use repetitive behaviors, rituals or compulsions to allay anxieties. OCD has a widely varied appearance typified by habits from excessive cleaning to hoarding. The type of ritual is determined by the nature of the anxiety or perpetual worry.

Commonly used OCD drugs and their risks

There are two major types of OCD medications approved in the USA, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) Common SSRIs include Plaxil, Zoloft, Prozac, and Luvox. TACs include Anafranil, Tofranil, and Elavil.

Both SSRIs and TCAs can cause nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, insomnia, constipation, dry mouth and sexual dysfunction. These side effects are more pronounced with TCA use. TCA users also increase their risk heart disease and heart attack. While OCD Treatment Clinics Los Angeles acknowledge the usefulness of these drugs they do not require their patients to take them. OCD Treatment Clinics often use methods like talk therapy and behavioral therapy rather than drugs.

Talk therapy can be as effective as drugs over time

Sometimes understanding the reasons for behaviors is enough to help break the cycle. By dealing with anxieties in other ways the rituals cease to be necessary. Los Angeles OCD Treatment clinics generally prefer to allow patients to talk through their anxieties and learn to cope with them in other more productive ways. OCD Treatment Clinics offer private session counseling with qualified psychologists who specialize in OCD treatment.

Prognosis for patients using non-medication treatments

Patients with OCD can learn to deal with their compulsions in a variety of ways. Often this is a trial and error approach that takes time and occasionally relapses. The chances of relapse are actually much lower with non medication treatments though, because it is a conscious learning process on the part of the patient and therapist, not just a pill doing the work. In addition OCD patients who have worked through the problem without drugs before are better equipped in gaining control of OCD again. Often it only takes a short session or two to get back on track. OCD Treatment Clinics Los Angeles seek to free the patient of compulsive behavior using a series of learned coping skills rather than just prescribing medications.

Patients with OCD should seek help confidently knowing that there is help, and it does not require medication. Los Angeles OCD Treatment Clinics offer a wide variety of therapy which can not only deal with OCD but any accompanying anxieties, phobias and depression which have formed as part of the overall presentation of OCD in the individual. OCD is not something people just have to live with. There is help.