OCD Treatment in Nashville
At Arbor Wellness, our OCD Treatment in Nashville can help you understand, identify, and recover from the symptoms of OCD.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental health condition that is characterized by recurrent uncontrollable thoughts and patterns of behaviors. People with OCD feel an urge to repeat these thoughts or behaviors again and again and are often powerless to stop themselves. Often, these behaviors can manifest as things like repeated hand washing, cleaning, or checking on things, and typically interfere with their ability to live a normal life. It can even impact their ability to do their jobs or to have a normal social life. At Arbor Wellness, our OCD Treatment in Nashville helps individuals reclaim, and recover so they can continue living productive lives in society.
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What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental health disorder that is characterized by recurrent uncontrollable thoughts and patterns of behaviors. People with OCD experience obsessive thoughts and engage in compulsive behaviors and often feel powerless to stop themselves. This condition typically interferes with their ability to live a normal life, including working, socializing, and having personal relationships. In turn, this causes a person to feel anxiety, which contributes to exacerbating the symptoms of OCD.
Someone with OCD recognizes that what they experience isn’t “normal” or healthy. They often spend hours a day engaging in rituals and feeling great stress that they cannot stop themselves. Attending OCD treatment in Nashville helps people learn to manage their symptoms and experience less anxiety.
Common Symptoms of OCD
The symptoms of OCD can be divided into to different categories: obsessions (reoccurring thoughts) and compulsions (behaviors). People suffering from this condition may have symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, or both.
Obsessions are frequent, uncontrollable thoughts, urges, or metal images that cause anxiety and yet won’t go away. Common obsessions include:
- Fear of getting contaminated like body fluids, germs, dirt and environmental contaminants
- Unwanted and disturbing sexual thoughts like forbidden and perverse sexual images and thoughts and thoughts about aggressive sexual behavior
- Fear of harming others
- Obsessions about perfectionism like keeping an exact order or needing to know or remember things
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that a person feels compelled to do. Quite often, compulsions arise as a way for people with OCD to try and counteract or neutralize their obsessions. Most people realize that compulsions consume a lot of their time and only give them temporary relief, but are helpless to stop as they try to make their obsessions go away. Compulsions can often interfere with a person’s ability to live a normal daily life. Common compulsions include:
- Checking things repeatedly that you did not harm others and checking nothing bad has happened
- Repeating behaviors like rewriting and rereading
For many people, OCD is not the only mental health condition that they suffer from. In fact, it is estimated that 90% also suffer from additional disorders, most commonly:
- Anxiety Disorders
- Major Depressive Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Tourette Syndrome
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder
What Causes OCD?
What causes OCD? The exact causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder are not yet fully understood. It is believed that this condition can be the result of environmental factors, neurological factors, and even genetics. In fact, for families with a history of OCD, there is a 25% chance that additional family members will also develop symptoms. Some studies have found a connection between childhood trauma, whereas others have found that certain areas of the brain have abnormal structures in those with OCD. Research is still being conducted to solidify these possible causes in the hopes of developing even more effective treatment options.
Common OCD Compulsions
The symptoms of OCD can be divided into two different categories: obsessions (reoccurring thoughts) and compulsions (behaviors). People suffering from this condition may have symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, or both.
Obsessions are frequent, uncontrollable thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety and yet won’t go away. Common obsessive thoughts may vary but often include:
- Fear of getting contaminated through bodily fluids, germs, dirt, and environmental contaminants
- Unwanted and disturbing sexual thoughts that include forbidden and perverse sexual images and thoughts about aggressive sexual behavior
- Fear of harming others
- Obsessions about perfectionism like keeping an exact order or needing to know or remember things
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that a person feels compelled to do. Quite often, compulsions arise as a way for people with OCD to try to counteract or neutralize their obsessive thoughts. Most people realize that compulsions consume a lot of their time and only give them temporary relief, but are helpless to stop themselves. Common compulsions include:
- Repetitive handwashing or cleaning rituals
- Checking things repeatedly to ensure the person did not harm others
- Repeatedly checking things like if a door is locked or a stove is turned off
- Rewriting, rereading, or repeating words or phrases
- Making sure everything is in exact order, such as items in a kitchen cupboard or on a desk
Professional OCD treatment can help a person identify their specific thoughts and behaviors and help them learn to control them.
Seeking OCD Treatment in Nashville
How is an OCD Diagnosis Made?
The criteria set in DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Statistical Disorders, 5th edition) is considered the gold standard by most mental health experts in the USA. It outlines that the following criteria need to be met to diagnose an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder:
- Presence of obsessions, compulsions, or presence of both
- These obsessions or compulsions are time-consuming and are a source of significant distress in personal, professional or social life
- The pattern of obsessions and compulsions cannot be explained by the physiological effects of a medication or a drug or another medical condition
- The symptoms cannot be explained by another mental health disorder
- The person’s insight regarding their condition is also assessed and it is specified in categories including good insight, poor insight and absent insight. It is also specified in diagnosis if the individual has had a tic disorder in the past.
Common Barriers to Seeking Help for OCD
Many people with OCD think that their symptoms are not severe enough to seek treatment. They might not be entirely aware of the impact the symptoms are having on their daily lives. Others might not be able to recognize their symptoms. As the symptoms of OCD are relatable to many other psychiatric disorders, it can be difficult for a person to recognize and distinguish between daily rituals and symptoms of OCD.
Still others may not know how or where to seek help, worry about the financial costs of treatment, or fear being judged for their condition. No matter what barrier is preventing someone from getting the help that they need, getting treatment for OCD is absolutely essential to helping them to effectively control their symptoms.
Why Is It Important to Seek Help?
Seeking treatment for OCD can be a challenging task for individuals and families struggling with this condition, but it is essential. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent a lot of psychological distress for individuals struggling with OCD.
OCD treatment is beneficial in many ways, helping achieve better functioning in day-to-day tasks and fewer impairments in personal, professional, and social aspects of a person’s life. While this condition cannot be cured, it can make a major difference in helping you to control your symptoms, which improves your overall mental health and physical well-being.
Effective Treatment for OCD
Mental health professionals use many evidence-based approaches to treat OCD. Using a combination of medicinal treatment and psychotherapy provides optimal benefits for most people. The most effective therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder is Exposure and Response Therapy (ERP), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. ERP is provided by a licensed mental health professional, often in combination with appropriate medications.
Currently, antidepressants are the mainstay medications used for OCD treatment, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) being the most commonly prescribed. About 7 in 10 people get relief from their symptoms with a combination of medication and ERP.
In severe OCD, which is resistant to standard forms of treatment, other forms of treatment can be used based on individual needs. This can include more intensive treatment programs in which a patient is admitted to a facility in order to get more structured care. Anyone entering OCD treatment will be assessed in order to understand the best approach for them.
When to Seek OCD Treatment
If symptoms have started affecting a person’s daily functioning, and are impacting his/her personal, social and professional lives, he/she should seek help. If the family notices that there is significant psychological distress for the individual, but he/she has impaired insight regarding that, they should seek help.
At Arbor Wellness Mental Health, our OCD Treatment in Nashville can help individuals learn root cause issues of their OCD and learn how to manage it. For more information call us now at 1-615-246-7275.
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What Happens During OCD TREATMENT in Nashville?
Mental health professionals utilize many evidence-based approaches to treat OCD. Usually, most often using a combination of medicinal treatment and psychotherapy. The most effective therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder is exposure and response therapy, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Exposure and response therapy (ERP) is usually done by a licensed mental health professional, who is also able to prescribe appropriate medications. Currently, antidepressants are the mainstay medications used for OCD treatment, with SRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) being the most commonly prescribed. About 7 in 10 people get relief from their symptoms with a combination of medication and ERP.
In severe OCD, which is resistant to standard forms of treatment, other forms of treatment can be used based on individual need. This can include more intensive treatment programs in which a patient is admitted to a facility in order to get more structured care. Clients can also join support groups specifically for clients struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Levels of Care
Arbor Wellness provides OCD treatment as part of several levels of care.
These include residential care, which provides a homelike environment for people to live in while they receive focused care day and night. Alternatively, a person may benefit from outpatient care programs, which include these levels of care:
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Find OCD Treatment in Nashville
Living with OCD can challenge even the strongest of people. The repetitive thoughts and rituals compromise a person’s ability to live a normal life. The results can cause a person to isolate and feel shame. The good news is that there is professional help available for anyone who needs it. Arbor Wellness provides outpatient and residential choices for effective care that helps minimize the symptoms of OCD. Our vast array of therapy choices helps people understand their condition and improve their mental health.
Would you like more information about our OCD treatment Nashville program? Visit our admissions page now and get started on improving your mental health.