You may not realize it, but the fears that dominate an OCD sufferer are often the very things they cherish most about life. OCD doesn’t latch on to fears of nothing. Rather, it takes hold of what you love, what you think is right or wrong, and what your future plans are, twisting them into fears and nightmares.
The good news is that OCD is highly treatable. Treatment of OCD requires knowing the process and the history of the disorder. However, an accurate diagnosis is crucial to developing a treatment plan. Therefore, it’s always best to consult an expert, such as a psychiatrist or neuropsychiatrist, first. Keep reading to understand how OCD can target what matters most to a person.
Obsessive-Compulsive Art: What Is OCD Targeting?
Below are some examples of what OCD can target when it comes to what you care about.
- Caring about safety:
If safety is your most important value, OCD will target that value with fear of what might harm or endanger you, or others you know:
You may obsessively check the stove to see if there is any fire. You may be afraid that you’ll accidentally crash a car and kill someone. It’s not that you don’t want to be punished. It’s because you love someone, and you want nothing bad to happen to them.
- Caring about relationships:
OCD can distort your feelings in a relationship to the point where you may feel that you’re doing the wrong thing in that relationship. You may start thinking: Do I really love this person? Is this person cheating on me? Am I attracted to only this person?
Perhaps you need to hear the words “I love you” several times for it to register, or you need reassurance that there is nothing wrong with your partner. In short, you desire that you don’t want your relationship to be ruined.
- Caring about having integrity:
For scrupulosity, a subtype of OCD, the “right” and the “wrong” are something one can determine for oneself, so it is often an issue of self-judgment. These types of OCD may worry: “Is the lie that I just told really tarnishing my reputation as a good person? Is the joke that I just told insulting to that person? Did I hurt him?”
You may find yourself apologizing for something that you just said and then asking that person if you were “right” or “wrong” because you’re so afraid of letting that person down. The issue becomes an issue because it’s an issue with you.
- Caring about doing a good job:
If someone prides themselves on performing to a high standard or achieving great things, OCD can replace their aspirations. You could end up reworking your emails repeatedly just so you don’t make mistakes. You double-check your work not to appear careless to anyone else. You stay quiet so you don’t say something you feel you shouldn’t say. This happens because you’re seeking perfection.
If that’s you, know that your perfectionism is hindering you from living a real life. Wanting to be clean, wanting to live in clean homes. Remember that it’s not childishness, but your OCD is working against your fear of a good job.
- When you care about health or cleanliness:
It is also possible for a person who values health or cleanliness to be obsessive about hand washing, not going to crowds of people, or cleaning every surface in the house. This can cause you to avoid things you enjoy doing or that are otherwise normal. But it is not about trying to show off or make a fool of yourself. It’s just about not getting sick with the flu. It’s about wanting to be healthy.
Facts about OCD disorder
Overall, your fear actually becomes a never-ending cycle that leads to more anxiety. This cycle goes like this:
- You value something
- OCD brings up doubts about the value
- You try to overcome the doubt with reassurance and rituals
- You get a temporary break
- The anxiety returns
- You double down on trying to keep the anxiety away.
OCD treatment options
OCD treatment is about understanding how OCD works and how to live with it. It’s about getting used to accepting your fear and your uncertainty.
Some treatment options available to address and control your fear include:
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Mindfulness practices
- Medication, when required
- Support groups
- Family therapy
The goal of OCD treatment is that certainty and safety can be learned from life, without feeling for being need to control every possible scenario that could occur. Online psychiatric care platforms, like GABA Telepsychiatry, make OCD care accessible, comprehensive, and individualized. They offer an integrative approach and treat OCD through multiple modalities like medication, psychotherapy, supplements, and hormone therapy.
Medication, along with other holistic approaches, is usually the best treatment that helps achieve complete resolution of OCD symptoms. However, note that an online psychiatrist, such as Online Psychiatrist Florida, is authorized to prescribe medication to people living in Florida.
The Takeaway
OCD doesn’t go around randomly but chooses people wisely to trigger their worst fears. It attempts to observe those fears and then creates frightening thoughts about them. It occurred because it was so important to you that you couldn’t bear the thought of it being hurt.
Yet, let me tell you clearly: it’s not your fault. You’re not weak at all. You are suffering from mental health issues because your mind blocks your emotional scars. You’re worried about the future of things that matter to you: safety, moral issues, and your character. The good thing is that with treatment, it is possible to manage obsessive and compulsive fears.
Remember this: Seeking professional help doesn’t mean you’re giving up. It’s actually a sign of recycling your obsessive-compulsive act. It’s about understanding the difference between living a life based on your strongest passions and living a life based on your fears.
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