Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder where people have unwanted thoughts and behaviors that feel out of control and cause significant distress or difficulty functioning in daily life. The condition often runs in families, suggesting that there may be some genetic component to it, but environmental factors like childhood trauma can also contribute to the development of OCD. People with this condition often develop rituals as a way to cope with the anxiety they experience; many of these rituals are repetitive behaviors, including hand washing or checking that no one has been in the house while they were gone.

What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that can cause significant distress, as well as sometimes difficult to understand behaviors. In short, OCD is characterized by obsessive thoughts and behaviors that are performed in order to reduce or neutralize obsessions. For example, you may have an obsessive fear of germs, which leads you to perform excessive hand-washing or cleaning rituals. This behavior provides temporary relief from your anxiety but increases over time until it dominates your life and interferes with daily functioning.

What Causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
OCD is a serious mental illness. Triggered by severe anxiety, it affects about 2.2 million American adults and impacts people of all races, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. It’s generally treated with a combination of behavioral therapy and prescription medications (antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications). OCD may be caused by a myriad of contributing factors, including biology and environment. In many cases, no single cause can be identified. In some instances, OCD symptoms are related to an underlying medical condition that needs treatment. Regardless of the cause of OCD, a mix of behavioral and pharmacological treatment is usually most effective. Exposure Response Prevention Therapy is one type of behavioral treatment used in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Are There Treatments For OCD?
Yes. There are a variety of effective treatments for OCD, with behavioral therapy being one of them. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an effective and common treatment that focuses on gradually exposing you to fearful situations that trigger your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, allowing you to learn how not to respond out of fear.

What Role Does Exposure And Response Prevention Play In Treating OCD?
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an important part of behavioral treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). It’s a long and involved process that involves gradually exposing yourself to things that scare you until you get used to them, which allows your brain to rewire itself so you can deal with whatever it is you’re scared of without needing excessive reassurance or avoidance. Think of exposure as desensitization therapy.