Anxiety & OCD
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is the persistent and excessive worry about various things. When this persists for 6 months or more with more days of worry than not, it is considered to be clinical.
What are different types of anxiety?
Agoraphobia: fear of places that it may be difficult or embarassing to escape from.
Generalized anxiety: persistent, excessive worry in most general areas of life without a specific reason for worry.
Panic attacks: episodes of intense apprehension, fearfulness, or terror, often associated with feelings of impending doom. During these attacks, there are clear physiological symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations, discomfort, feeling of choking or smothering sensations. There is an intense fear of “going crazy” and loss of control.
Panic Disorder: recurrent unexpected episodes of panic attacks.
School anxiety: anxiety related to attending school
Social anxiety: persistent and chronic worry provoked by social situations or fear of performing in front of others.
Specific Phobia: significant anxiety provoked by exposure to a specific feared object or situation.
Workplace anxiety/stress:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: obsessive thinking which cause marked anxiety and/or distress and the presence of compulsions (behaviors in which serve to neutralize the anxiety).
What is OCD?
OCD is when an inidividual has obsessions (unwanted thoughts, images or urges) and compulsions (excessive, repetitive behaviors or mental acts that attempt to neutralize their obssessions and/or distress to make it “go away”). These obsessions and compulsions take up a lot of time and make day to day life difficult.
How is anxiety & OCD treated?
Anxiety and OCD are both treated through CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). The gold standard treatment for OCD is ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) in which a client works through their fears/anxieties through “exposures” without doing the compulsion (“response prevention”).
What can I expect from an ERP session?
ERP is done in weekly sessions or possibly a few sessions a week (at the recommendation of the therapist). In collaboration with your therapist, you will use structured exercises and tasks, as well as homework assignments to help you along the way. Although treatment may be difficult, it is important to have courage, determination and a support system by your side to help you meet your goals.