1st Blog Post- What is OCD?

Hi everyone! I am starting a weekly blog to educate and connect with others.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common- but not widely understood- mental illness in which the sufferer experiences unwanted and disturbing thoughts, or obsessions, and performs ritualistic behaviors, or compulsions, to alleviate the distress caused by the obsessions.

Many therapists attempt to treat OCD with talk therapy, DBT, and others, but these types of therapies are generally ineffective and sometimes detrimental to the sufferer! The gold-standard treatment for OCD is called Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP. This involves the sufferer performing “exposures” in which they are introduced to the obsession and resisting performing the compulsions. Eventually, the sufferer will “habituate” and the obsession is not as powerful as it once was. Other therapies try to “dive deeper” into the distress, which is in itself a compulsion!

Mental illnesses should be treated with the best treatments available, but many OCD sufferers are not treated well- I saw this in my mental health journey. I had an idea- what if we could reach psychology and social work students while they are learning to become therapists and teach them about the basics and benefits of treating those with OCD?

And so the OCD Education Project was born! Myself, as an OCD survivor, and an ERP-trained therapist guest lecture at colleges and universities to introduce the “pre-professionals” to OCD and ERP.

Are you interested in volunteering? What about hosting a guest lecture at your college or university? Any other ideas of how you would like to contribute? Maybe visit my Etsy shop to financially contribute?

I sincerely hope you will stay tuned for more blog posts! I welcome all questions and comments!

~Lauren