Generalized Anxiety Disorder
What is Generalized Anxiety?
The hallmark of OCD is having obsessions (unwanted thoughts, urges, or images) that pop into your head, are out of your control, and feel really scary, stressful, or disgusting. Lots of people experience these as “what if….?” and feel “hijacked” by their attention. Compulsions are things you do to make yourself feel less anxious. Over time, the compulsions grow, feel less satisfying, and feel impossible to stop doing.
Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety
You’ll know if it’s a disorder if you experience distress and impairment from the thoughts and compulsions. They typically take up at least one hour per day, or more. Your thoughts probably feel unwanted and irrational, but that doesn’t stop the need to do your compulsions.It usually feels like a really sticky loop where you’re bullied into seeking certainty or feeling “right”. An intake evaluation will clarify which subtypes of OCD you may experience:
Fear of germs or contamination
Fear of bodily illness or symptoms
Fear of things being not just right
Fear of unknowingly hurting someone
Fear of taboo or explicit thoughts
Plus, many others
Treatments for Generalized Anxiety
I provide the gold standard treatment for OCD: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).
ERP is a specialized form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that has the strongest evidence base for reducing symptoms and impairment. Most people experience 60-80% symptom reduction with this treatment. You can expect:
-Learning what may cause OCD and keep it around
-Tools to “boss back” the OCD bully in your mind
-Slowly and carefully approaching what you’ve been avoiding, with support and accountability
-Skills to maintain your progress after therapy ends