What would be your number 1 bit of advice for someone with ocd. Mine would be get into treatment. I dont think you can go it alone with ocd in my opinion. I am in the uk 🇬🇧 here we can get free treatment and medications. Im just wondering, is it different in the usa and other countries? I think it is but im not sure
ERP therapy is key for OCD! Not general talk therapy
Yeah your not wrong. Talk therapy made me much worse it really did. I hoped it would help, obviously. But I had no idea I had ocd at the time. I think that medically? Ocd needs to be more readily diagnosed and spotted by the medical staff and mental health sector in general. It shouldn't be upto the patients to diagnose themselves or go searching for answers.
When I 1st heard about ERP i thought no way, that will never work for me. It just won't. It sounds too simple and my issues feel too complicated for this treatment. But with professional help ERP did actually, I wont say cure me, but it gave me back my 'normal mind'. I will say that. It took over a year but it did actually work. ERP works haha 😄 I remember thinking how can this silly erp help me ? When im so unwell. But with a professional guiding me it did work. Like magic. I still wonder how it works because it seems so simple on paper.
Yes, it's very important to get treatment, but what's even more important is to get the PROPER treatment. OCD is a peculiar disorder and doesn't respond well to standard therapy. We need therapy from a trained OCD therapist who uses ERP therapy, the gold standard for OCD treatment.
In my opinion? All mental health teams should be knowledgeable about ocd. Especially as, you say, it IS a peculiar disorder. 👍 it really is. It shouldn't be on the patient to diagnose themselves. Or to struggle themselves.
@bluerainbow They should be knowledgeable but many are not. The giveaway is if they use ERP therapy. All the trained ones use it. If not, they're not trained, no matter what they say. NOCD does have an international program, if you need it.
There is waiting lists, though. Its not fast you have to wait your turn which can be ages. Getting prescription medication can be quick though. But medication alone did very little for me. I needed actual treatment. And getting diagnosed with ocd can be a pain as well. So the uk has free treatment but its far from perfect. But its free so cant actually moan too much.
Do the things you hate & fear to do, while accepting the uncertainty and know that you can handle it!
I would say definitely ERP if it is accessible to you. If not, I agree with what Dee C says above. Doing things you dislike whilst trying to accept uncertainty and remembering that healing is not linear. I am in California (USA) and with my insurance I’d have to go through a doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist to get prescription medication. I’d likely need to pay a copay when picking it up but insurance would likely cover the rest depending on what the medication is.
That seems like a lot of hoops to jump through, to get medication! Here we can get a lot of medications via our GP. Especially for things like depression or anxiety and things like that. I wish that medication and treatment was just made available to everyone as mandatory.
@bluerainbow Same. I think I could technically get depression or anxiety medication from a GP but typically it’s recommended to speak to some sort of psych team. But I also think it depends on insurance and if you need a referral or not! I wish so badly therapy (specifically ERP) and medication were more accessible for everyone.
@MeganE Me too. I mean, wouldn't it make sense in the long run? Your going to have a healthier and more productive society if people are actually able to access help ! Plus its just the right thing to do for humanity 😅 the help exsists. Its there. But out of reach which is a dam shame. It should be number 1 priority in my opinion. But what do I know haha
@bluerainbow EXACTLY! 👏🏼
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