Options For OCD Treatments

Considering that obsessive compulsive disorder affects more than 3 million Americans every year, it is no wonder that a lot of time and research has gone into trying to find safe and effective OCD treatments. For a long time it was thought that this disorder was not treatable and the individuals were left to try and cope on their own.

However nowadays a couple of options are open to those seeking OCD treatments and not all of them involve scheduled medication although this form of treatment is very widely used and has been proven to be effective but it does have side effects.

So let's take a very brief look at what the main options are that are generally used for OCD treatments and more or less what they entail.

• Medication - Medication using scheduled drugs to treat OCD have for a long time been one of the more popular options, by using drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and sometimes Anafranil practitioners have had relatively good result when it comes to keeping obsessive compulsive disorder under control.
• They do however sometimes come with adverse side effects and each individual reacts differently to the medication.
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy - CBT or cognitive-behavioral therapy has been very effective at treating the symptoms of OCD and helping the patient prevent relapses. This is one of the more natural obsessive compulsive disorder treatments and has no side effects.
• Self-Help - Self help is one of the much broader types of the obsessive compulsive disorder treatments and the individual can choose to do it alone or find a group who are applying the same techniques as what the individual feels will work for them. Some self help methods which have been proven to help when it comes to OCD are deep breathing or meditation, participating in activities to keep the mind busy, regular exercise and any array of suggestions which are available in self help books.
• Surgical Procedures- Surgical procedures are normally only given as an option when the individual has very severe OCD and all the other obsessive compulsive disorder treatments have failed. These procedures are done to inactivate certain regions of the brain which are believed to be the origin of some of the symptoms of OCD, 50% to 70% of individuals who opt for this procedure do see significant improvements as to the condition. There are however many risks and potential side effects as it is after all brain surgery. Always try to exhaust all other options before going this route.

Every now and then new obsessive compulsive behavior treatments do become available and many of them are following the much more natural paths of late such as hypnotherapy and acupuncture. So always be on the lookout for a natural and healthy way to attempt to handle your condition first.

About this Author

Dr. Hannes Dreyer is an Author on Anxiety and Panic Attack.

For more articles (or training) on ocd treatments or to get your FREE Mini Course to Overcome Panic and Anxiety Attacks go to http://www.OverComingAnxietyAttacksAndPanicDisorders.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Hannes_Dreyer