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Last Updated: Jan 10, 2023
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Ways to Deal With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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Dr. Milind BarhatePsychiatrist • 19 Years Exp.DPM, MBBS
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder that causes anxiety. It is also called as anxiety disorder. The main characteristics of this disorder are uncontrollable, unpleasant thoughts, which are continuing. OCD causes the mind to get stuck on a specific thought or inclination. For instance, you may repeat a task forty times to ensure that it has been done properly. You will not be able to get it out of your mind. OCD is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior patterns.

Some obsessive thoughts include:

  1. The fear of being defiled by germs or soil and also of contaminating others.
  2. The fear of losing control and hurting yourself or others.
  3. Having sexual or brutal thoughts on the mind.
  4. Extreme focus and devotion to religion and religious activities.
  5. A sense of fear of losing or not having things you need.
  6. Having the assumption that everything would go fine.
  7. The person will become very superstitious.

Some compulsive behavior patterns include:

  1. Inordinate double checking on things like locks, apparatuses and switches.
  2. Over and over monitoring of friends and family to ensure they're safe.
  3. Counting in the head, mumbling nonsense words without meaning.
  4. Devoting a lot of time for washing and cleaning.
  5. Praying without reason and taking part in religious ceremonies.
  6. Accumulating junk material.

Here are some common ways to deal with OCD:

  1. Regular exercise: Exercise is the best natural remedy to prevent anxiety, which leads to OCD. Exercise checks your OCD  symptoms. It makes your nerves stronger and hence you can focus your mind out of obsessive thoughts by yourself, when they arrive. Get at least thirty minutes of exercise regularly.
  2. Connect with friends and family: Social isolation is one of the common early symptoms of OCD. Social isolation can lead to OCD as well. Therefore, you must always stay connected to your friends and family so that you never get lonely and anti-social. Share everything with family.
  3. Sleep sufficiently: Lack of sleep or troubled sleep may lead to anxiety disorders. You need to sleep enough to be away from obsessive thoughts.
  4. Perform relaxation techniques: Simple practices like yoga, meditation, pranayama  help you grow spiritually, relax your mind and keeps OCD away from you.
  5. Tackle your fears: Instead of avoiding fearful thoughts, let them flow and tackle them face to face. This will help you overcome the fear. Adopt measures so that you can focus on other things and ignore the obsessive thoughts. Distract yourself away from the obsession.

OCD is a harmful disorder, and you should take all measures possible to keep away from it.

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