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Seek a professional diagnosis. Consider psychotherapy. Consider prescription medications. Build a strong support system to help you cope with OCD.

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Even if you suspect that you have OCD, never try to diagnose yourself. Psychiatric diagnoses can be quite complex and are intended to be used by mental health professionals to help their patients.  If you have been unable to work through problems related to obsession or compulsion by yourself, consider seeing a psychologist or practicing mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment. Ask your doctor for a referral if you are not sure where to start. Psychotherapy for OCD involves talking to a therapist about your obsessions, anxieties, and compulsions during regular scheduled appointments. While psychotherapy may not cure your OCD, it can be an effective way to cope with your OCD symptoms and make them less noticeable; therapy may be able to cure about 10% of cases, but it can improve the symptoms in as many as 50-80% of patients.  Therapists and counselors use different techniques when working with OCD patients.  Some therapists use exposure therapy, in which patients are gradually exposed to whatever conditions cause the most anxiety for the client, such as purposely not washing one’s hands after touching a doorknob. The therapist will work with the patient in this way until the patient’s anxiety about that situation starts to decrease.  Some therapists use imaginal exposure, which uses short narratives that are meant to simulate situations that cause the most anxiety for the client. The goal of imaginal exposure is to have the clients learn to manage anxiety about a situation and desensitize them to their anxiety triggers. There are also several prescription drugs that have been shown to help with the short term obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors associated with OCD. Keep in mind that such drugs treat the symptoms without actually curing the disorder, so it is better to combine drug therapy with talk therapy to treat OCD than to use drug treatment alone. Some of these drugs include:  Clomipramine (Anafranil) Fluvoxamine (Luvox CR) Fluoxetine (Prozac) Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva) Sertraline (Zoloft) While many people consider OCD to be a problem caused solely by an individual’s dysfunctional brain, it’s important to keep in mind that the onset of OCD is often preceded by traumatic, or even a series of especially stressful, life events. Going through experiences such as the death of a loved one, losing an important job, or being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness can all produce stress and anxiety. In some people, this stress and anxiety can lead to an increased urge to control certain aspects of one’s life that might seem unimportant to others.  Work towards building a strong social support system where your past experiences will be given the respect they deserve. Surround yourself with supportive people. Feeling supported by a group of others has been shown to be important to promoting mental health in general. Find ways to spend as much time as possible with people you care about. If you don’t feel supported enough by all of those you currently come into contact with, consider visiting a local OCD support group. These meetings are typically free of charge, and can serve as a great way to start talking about your disorder with others who are both supportive and somewhat familiar with what you might be going through.