OCD Treatment

OCD Treatment

Mental Health

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

For those dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it often feels like living in a nightmare. The symptoms of OCD are invasive and all-encompassing. As a result, people with OCD may have great difficulty in their day-to-day lives. Often, people feel helpless, overwhelmed, and upset. With each day that passes, those who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder feel physically and psychologically tired—especially if they try to hide it from family, friends, and co-workers. Worse yet, the anxiety and upsetting nature of this disorder can snowball into panic attacks which make things even worse. If you or a loved one is dealing with OCD, you may feel that your situation is hopeless and there is no way out. Fortunately, there are excellent treatment options available that help you address and manage your OCD. This article will further explore what OCD is, the signs of OCD, and where you can find outpatient OCD programs near New Jersey.

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What is OCD?

OCD is a mental disorder that can affect people from all walks of life. With this condition, people experience a continual cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted and intrusive thoughts, urges, or images that trigger extreme unease and distress. Compulsions are the behaviors people will perform to decrease or eliminate the stress brought on by their obsessions. While most people will have obsessive and compulsive thoughts from time to time, OCD takes these thoughts to the extreme. As a result, people with this disorder are caught in this cycle of thoughts to the degree where ordinary life is upended, and they are unable to stop. According to information provided by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), OCD affects 2.2 million Americans yearly. The average age of onset for this disorder is 19 years and it is equally common in both men and women. According to statistics, about 1 in 40 adults and 1 in 100 children have OCD. For some with this disorder, they first start displaying symptoms in their teenage years. The underlying cause of OCD is the breakdown of communication from the frontal cortex and other frontal brain structures to the deeper brain regions such as the thalamus.
What Are the Signs of OCD?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

What Are the Signs of OCD?

There are pronounced signs of OCD with both obsessive and compulsive behaviors. When these behaviors consume a person’s daily life, they must seek help from an OCD treatment program near New Jersey. The common signs of the obsessive component of OCD are as follows:

  • Fear of contamination, including bodily fluids, dirt, disease, and household cleaners.
  • Fear of losing control, including acting on impulses to harm themselves or others, or replaying violent or horrific images in their mind.
  • Sexual obsession, forbidden or perverse thoughts and impulses about others, and obsessions about aggressive sexual behaviors towards others.
  • Extreme superstitious ideas about lucky or unlucky numbers, colors, etc.
  • Excessive thoughts about morality and what is right or wrong.

The signs of compulsions include the following:

  • Excessive washing one’s hands or body in a certain way.
  • Excessive cleaning of household items.
  • Rereading, recounting items, and repeating daily routines. This may also include repeating activities a specific number of times every time.
  • Arranging or ordering things until they look and feel “right.”
  • Praying constantly to prevent harm to oneself or others, or to ward off terrible consequences.
  • Repeated checking of your body or particular body part.

If the cycle of obsessive and compulsive thoughts is constant and interfering with your daily life, an outpatient OCD program near New Jersey will give you the tools you need to address and overcome this disorder.

OCD Treatment

How to Treat OCD

Thankfully you can get help at an OCD treatment center. With the right rehab, a Tri-State OCD treatment program can help you:

  1. Learn how to manage your symptoms
  2. Identify triggers that worsen your OCD symptoms
  3. Detox from drugs or alcohol used for self-medication
  4. Apply relapse prevention education to avoid self-medicating in the future

Therapy

A Tri-State OCD treatment program will start with individual and group therapy. The most common therapy used to treat OCD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CBT helps you to identify obsessive thoughts that can lead to harmful actions. This therapy facilitates a better understanding of harmful or error-prone messages your brain sends. 

For example: If you walk by a friend and they don’t acknowledge you, your brain might mistakenly interpret that as your friend no longer liking you, which contributes to your belief that you are unworthy of love and have no friends. But with CBT, you can recognize that there are millions of reasons why your friend did not acknowledge you, almost all of which have nothing to do with you. 

Exposure Therapy

Another popular therapy is Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP. This form of therapy requires you to list your obsessions and compulsions, after which you work with a therapist to face some of your fears. 

For example: If you are afraid of germs, especially in public, your therapist might work with you to expose yourself to germs in a public setting, a little bit at a time. That might include touching an elevator button. 

Medication

Medication might be provided in conjunction with therapy. At an OCD treatment center, you might be given SSRIs to help control OCD symptoms or other medication to handle withdrawal symptoms if you are seeking addiction treatment concurrently. 

OCD is a chronic illness, so the symptoms require constant attention and action. With regular efforts, you can more easily control and manage your symptoms. Similarly, you can avoid reverting to old habits with the right relapse prevention skills. 

Dual Diagnosis

If you are struggling with substance abuse and OCD symptoms, our tri-state OCD treatment program can provide dual diagnosis services. Dual diagnosis services offer treatment for OCD and addiction at the same time. 

The treatment program you receive will often include the following:

  1. Initial medical detox with supervision and medications to manage your withdrawal symptoms. You might require medication-assisted treatment or MAT for more severe addictions like opioids or alcoholism. 
  2. Ongoing therapy and medication management. The therapy program will include a combination of individual and group therapy, with holistic treatments where appropriate. The precise therapies used will vary from person to person; for some, things like family therapy might be a good addition to a treatment plan, while for others, a better emphasis is on relapse prevention and meditation. 

For those dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it often feels like living in a nightmare. The symptoms of OCD are invasive and all-encompassing. As a result, people with OCD may have great difficulty in their day-to-day lives. Often, people feel helpless, overwhelmed, and upset. With each day that passes, those who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder feel physically and psychologically tired—especially if they try to hide it from family, friends, and co-workers. Worse yet, the anxiety and upsetting nature of this disorder can snowball into panic attacks which make things even worse.

If you or a loved one is dealing with OCD, you may feel that your situation is hopeless and there is no way out. Fortunately, there are excellent treatment options available that help you address and manage your OCD. This article will further explore what OCD is, the signs of OCD, and where you can find outpatient OCD programs near New Jersey.

Full Spectrum of Programs and Services

We Treat the Person, Not the Diagnosis.

Our holistic approach is designed to restore balance, and re-calibrate the mind, body and spirit through a combination of masterfully-planned clinical sessions and extraordinary experiential experiences.

Our programs are licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Drug and Alcohol Programs of Pennsylvania and offer an on-site Psychiatrist five days each week, two 1-on-1 sessions weekly with masters-level clinicians, group therapy daily, relapse prevention through exposure therapy, seasoned mental health professionals and so much more.

How to Treat OCD

Mental Health

Can OCD Cause Substance Abuse?

Without help from a Tri-State OCD treatment program, OCD and addiction can often go hand-in-hand. Substance abuse disorders impact over one-fourth of people who get help for OCD. 

Coping with the symptoms of OCD can be a significant challenge. Many undiagnosed people or not given proper help at an OCD treatment center turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. Ongoing self-medication offers short-term relief, after which repeated use can negatively influence brain structure and function, leading to worsening symptoms. 

OCD can lead to social isolation. As people struggle in social settings to control their compulsions or obsessions, they might retreat and remain at home instead of with others. This isolation can more easily result in substance abuse.

New Jersey OCD Treatment Center

Are There Outpatient OCD Programs Near New Jersey?

If you or a loved one is struggling with OCD, outpatient OCD programs near New Jersey can help. When you enter OCD treatment near New Jersey, treatment professionals will create an individualized program that will focus on both therapy and medication management. Therapies that have been found effective in addressing OCD include Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention therapy which is an offshoot of CBT. Medications such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft may also be used in a Tri-State area OCD treatment program.

Water Gap Wellness Center OCD Treatment Program

How Can Water Gap Wellness Center Help with OCD

If you are near New Jersey and need help in overcoming OCD, Water Gap Wellness Center will give you the tools you need to succeed. Our OCD and other mental health programs are specifically structured, giving you the compassionate and necessary support you need to address your OCD. We offer therapy, private counseling, trauma therapy, nutritional therapy, sleep education, and other holistic approaches to treat and heal the whole person.

Break the vicious cycle of OCD once and for all with help from Water Gap Wellness Center. Call us toll-free today to learn more about our Tri-State area outpatient rehab center and mental health treatment programs for the New Jersey area.

Get Financial Assistance

We Accept Most Major Insurance

Many insurance plans cover the cost of Water Gap Wellness Center’s treatment plans – Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Rehab. Although Water Gap Wellness Center accepts benefits from most major insurers, it is essential to verify coverage before admission. Your admission counselor partners with you to determine coverage and benefits from companies like Aetna, BCBS, Cigna, UHC, UMR, Humana, Magellan, Horizon, etc.

Mental Health

Can OCD Cause Substance Abuse?

Without help from a Tri-State OCD treatment program, OCD and addiction can often go hand-in-hand. Substance abuse disorders impact over one-fourth of people who get help for OCD. 

Coping with the symptoms of OCD can be a significant challenge. Many undiagnosed people or not given proper help at an OCD treatment center turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. Ongoing self-medication offers short-term relief, after which repeated use can negatively influence brain structure and function, leading to worsening symptoms. 

OCD can lead to social isolation. As people struggle in social settings to control their compulsions or obsessions, they might retreat and remain at home instead of with others. This isolation can more easily result in substance abuse.

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