Does anybody know of any support to reduce OCD rituals?

feeky1973

Hi does anyone know of any therapies/support that has helped to reduce the anxiety or frequency of OCD rituals?  I know everyone is different and everyones behaviours/triggers will be different but I'm really interested to know what people have found helps 

Ross_Alumni

Hi @feeky1973

Thanks for posting, I hope that others will be able to provide their experience in this regard, I'd be interested to see what techniques there are for managing this. 

Have you spoken with your GP to see if they can advise you at all?

feeky1973

Hi @Ross_Scope its not for me its for a relative. She has been to see a doctor. He has suggested meds and talk therapy.  Problem is she has communication anxiety so wont talk/share much.

MarkM88

I found these helpful - https://www.ocduk.org/

OverlyAnxious

CBT & ERP are the main therapies for OCD. 

Neither reduce anxiety in the short term though.  Essentially you have to 'accept' the intrusive thought and sit with the anxiety of it without doing the compulsion or trying to fight it.  For some triggers, contamination for example, this will be graded exposure...such as waiting 2 minutes between thought and compulsion, then 5 minutes, then 10, and so on...
 
Distraction and mindfulness type techniques might help with anxiety in the short term, but the avoidance makes the OCD worse long term.  I'm not sure how old your relative is but I'd really recommend trying to treat the OCD asap...it won't get better on its own.

Although a therapist can help to structure CBT, there's no reason you can't do it yourselves using online worksheets or books etc.  If you're not on OCDUK, I'd recommend having a look over there.

Personally I haven't found anything that works for me so far...but I do have other issues that bounce off the OCD and make the treatment of any single one less accessible.

feeky1973

@OverlyAnxious thanks. I'll let her know about those  therapies. Had to look up ERP 
  Hopefully we'll find someone who can offer that. 

OverlyAnxious

It's the OCD UK conference this weekend for anyone interested.  You just need to sign up for any you're interested in.  Some of the talks will be recorded and uploaded in a few weeks time to watch whenever.

2021 Virtual OCD-UK Conference | OCD-UK (ocduk.org)

Alex_Alumni

Thanks for sharing the conference @OverlyAnxious, it's good to know that some of the talks will be recorded as well, then people can watch whenever suits them.