New research supports concurrent treatment for co-occurring OCD and PTSD

Many people living with OCD also experience other mental or behavioral health conditions, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is among the most common. When PTSD shows up alongside OCD, the symptoms can blend together in ways that can feel confusing, exhausting, and isolating. Specialized treatment is of the utmost importance for both conditions—but there has been little research on what happens when OCD and PTSD are treated at the same time. A new study published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry helps fill that gap. The research looked at 181 adults living with both OCD and PTSD who received concurrent exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for OCD and prolonged exposure (PE) for PTSD through NOCD's virtual therapy platform. Learn more about the study’s findings, and the hope they offer for people living with OCD and PTSD: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/concurrent-ocd-ptsd-treatment-study?utm_source=app&utm_medium=community_feed&utm_campaign=brand_new_research_on_ptsd_and_ocd_treatment_081826

Coati

Date posted: 6d

Heck yeah! Shoutout to all the fellow childhood trauma survivors out there.

JS55555

Date posted: 4d

Hello, I am typing this because there is a chance that I may be getting into a relationship with a girl who has childhood trauma. I, personally have grown up with very severe OCD so I am wondering about your perspective on the two disorders as in what is different and what is similar so I can support her (I want to emphasize that I am not trying to "fix" her). Also are there OCD recovery techniques that help or hurt the recovery from childhood trauma? I know ocd recovery very well so I am wondering how I can help her during things like a panic attack.

Coati

Date posted: 4d

@JS55555 I would seek a conversation with your potential partner and talk about her needs and values. The most important thing is that she is responsible for doing the work of healing her trauma, not you. Maybe ask yourself: What boundaries do you need to be in a good relationship with her?

JS55555

Date posted: 4d

@Coati I completely agree that I am not supposed to be treating her in any way. I am just wondering what helps in a sudden crisis moment (for example does reassurance help or hurt?) Similar to how with my OCD my healing and treatment is between me and my therapist but I want my family to know that giving me reassurance is bad for me.

Infinite

Date posted: 11d

Is the “OCDalso” supposed to be an exposure for me?

designer_girl✨

Date posted: 11d

@Infinite It definitely was for me. I got reeaall antsy reading that. Def triggering. Re-read it a couple times

A23

Date posted: 8d

👏

Anonymous

Date posted: 5d

Sometimes the best thing is not to read articles that might trigger trust in the Lord and he will get you through this. Thank you Jesus I’ll be praying for you.

Anonymous

Date posted: 4d

No disrespect to religion, but what you just described sounds like a compulsion and the exact opposite of how effective treatment for OCD works. Please, please, PLEASE do not avoid triggers if you actually want to improve your OCD.

Anonymous

Date posted: 21h

My severe OCD started basically overnight after an extremely stressful time, and i've since been in trauma therapy, specifically emdr. It is hard to unpick what is ocd and what is trauma.

Be a part of the largest OCD Community

Share your thoughts so the Community can respond