Curious (just ranting)

Personally I do not agree with medication for this issue for me . I did a DNA mouth swab test based on a prescription written by my doctor and it showed me that 90% of the medications for various conditions would be incompatible for me with serious side effects based on my individual makeup of what makes me , me .

I am on an OCD medication. It seems to take off the edge, but I still need to do my ERPs and Buddhist philosophy stuff, so the medication is not a cure all.

This is going to be (and already is) a huge debate in mental health care for probably several decades, or longer. My personal stance, and this is based on a lot of reading, research, and personal experience, is that OCD and most other mental disorders are learned behavior that eventually leads to a “rewiring” of the brain, which is why there are indeed differences in brain activity and chemical transmitters in mental health patients versus “normal” brains. In other words, I believe that those chemical imbalances are real, but they’re a result of, not the cause of, our problems. Medication can help rebalance the release and reception of neurotransmitters, but ultimately that’s treating the symptoms, not the root cause. The root cause being the maladaptive coping mechanisms that we’ve taught ourselves, also known as bad habits. This is just my take on things. I might be proven wrong by science one day and it might turn out that we all just lost the genetic lottery to end up with OCD but it really makes more sense to me that this is a disorder that grows from fear and avoidance, which are learned. I believe medicine can be great for easing symptoms while one does therapy but I don’t believe they’re a replacement for therapy. I truly believe that changing our habits, both in action and in thought, is the cure for this disorder.

Medication is wonderful and can really help on your healing journey but ERP is how you retrain your brain. Ocd is always going to come back and be “the worst it’s ever been” medication or no medication but when you retrain your brain you set yourself up with long lasting self sufficient skills that you will need regardless of the meds you’re on. That being said taking medication so you can rationally work your way through ERP is ideal for some (including me) when you feel debilitated without it.

I’ve heard of or read about the chemical imbalance model, biological\genetic+environmental causes, connection of a few areas of the brain connected with thought filtering issues and false panic alarms, overactivity in some areas, neuroplasticity, a study which involved gray matter difference, an article with something called executive functioning hypothesis, and most recently some studies regarding proteins. I think while medication is beneficial for several people with ocd, but it is not effective for everyone. It can also be a lengthy process to find the right one at the right dosage and if I remember right it can take several months to feel full effect, which doesn’t necessarily equal “miracle pill”. Once again if I remember hearing/reading right, if an ssri higher dose needed, and some people are more sensitive to side effects with the higher doses. I think the more options for different treatments the better, and combination of treatments can be helpful too!