In this video, I’m going to explain what the best treatment for adults suffering with
obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is. Okay, so, there are two types of treatment
that have been found to be effective—medication, and talking therapies. So, I'm going to explain
a little bit about each of those, and then what you can expect to be offered if you go
for help. So, let's start with medication.
Now, the biological origins of OCD are still a bit unclear, so this makes it very tricky
to develop a medication that works for everybody all of the time. So, if you're offered medication,
the prescribing process is likely to involve a little bit of trial and error. Also, medications
take between four to six weeks to have an effect, so, it's likely that you'll be reviewed
after this time, and then your medication will be tweaked, if necessary.
The first type of medication that you're likely to be offered is an antidepressant called
an SSRI, and that stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, and examples of this include
Fluoxetine, Paroxetine, Sertraline, and Citalopram. Now, if your symptoms are very severe, or
if you haven't responded to that medication, you could be offered a different type of antidepressant—a
tricyclic, called Clomipramine. If this doesn't work, that might be combined with Citalopram,
and possibly an antipsychotic. The second type of treatment that's been shown
to be effective is a talking therapy. Now, the psychological origins of OCD are a little
clearer, so it's been easier to develop treatments in this area. Currently, the most effective
talking therapy for OCD is something called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT; this
involves, kind of, two parts. The first is where the therapist will help
you to identify your thoughts—the thoughts that are kind of a part of your OCD, or triggering,
or fuelling, your OCD. And you will be helped to assess their accuracy and their helpfulness,
and then to construct alternative thoughts which help you to feel calmer, more confident,
and to lead a more productive life—without OCD.
The second part is where you're taught strategies to help you to resist the various routines
and rituals that are a part of your OCD. Okay, so, moving on to what you can expect
to be offered. If you go for help and your symptoms are assessed as being mild, then
you are going to be offered, probably, a short course of CBT—either one-to-one or in a
group. If your symptoms don't respond to this, or
if your symptoms are assessed as being moderate (and this will be worked out depending on
how long you've been suffering, and how much these symptoms are impacting on your day-to-day
life), you will then be offered an SSRI, one of the antidepressants, or a more intensive
course of CBT—usually for more than about 10 hours, one-to-one with a therapist.
After 12 weeks, if your symptoms still aren't responding, or if you were assessed at the
outset as having severe OCD, you'll be offered a combination of medication and CBT. Ideally,
your family will be involved a little bit in the treatment, just so that they are able
to offer you the most appropriate type of support, but also to make sure that they're
not getting involved in your rituals and your routines. And it's understandable why this
would happen when somebody is trying to help you, but it actually does prevent recovery.
Okay, I hope this was helpful, thank you for watching.
And I will see you soon.