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Is OCD Curable?

Imagine constantly feeling like you need to remain clean, so you wash your hands repeatedly to avoid feeling dirty or feel like you have to hoard food in your closet or under your bed to not worry about being hungry. These are examples of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a mental health disorder that emerges in childhood and adolescence. Teens with OCD will have thoughts that will not allow them to relax. As a result, they develop rituals or repeat specific behaviors. If compulsive behaviors consume your child, it may be time to seek an OCD treatment program for teens. Many people wonder, is OCD curable? And while it is not, various treatments will help young adults. Destinations for Teens provides support for OCD through its mental health treatment services.

Signs of OCD

OCD can encompass multiple symptoms and signs. It is characterized by obsessions, or repetitive and excessive thoughts, and compulsions, or repetitive behaviors that attempt to calm those thoughts. While OCD is often stigmatized as an obsession with cleanliness, this is not always true. OCD often centers on a theme for most people, and these can vary from interpersonal relationships to food contamination. Commonly, individuals who have OCD will face overwhelming anxiety, fear of harm, and intrusive thoughts. They might also have difficulty concentrating or performing tasks due to constant rumination and obsessive thoughts. Some other signs of OCD include:

  • Fear of making mistakes
  • Feeling the need to count, measure, or arrange objects in a specific way
  • Avoiding certain numbers
  • Excessive rereading, rewriting, or reviewing
  • Needing to know things that can’t be known (like what is possibly going to happen in the future)
  • Fear of contamination, dirt, or germs

In addition to psychological symptoms, teens with OCD may experience physical ones, such as fatigue or gastrointestinal issues due to stress.

Is OCD Curable?

A parent or caregiver wants to find a cure whenever a teen has a disorder. Unfortunately, there is no cure for OCD. However, there are methods that many people use to manage their symptoms so that they do not impact their lives negatively. Treatment for OCD includes various medical and therapeutic services. In some cases, with a combination of both medicine and mental health support, teens with OCD will learn how to cope with their condition positively.

Treatment for OCD

The good news is that OCD is treatable. Multiple forms of therapy can be used to help teens manage their symptoms and work on their recovery. Exposure and response prevention therapy, or ERP, is the gold standard of care for OCD. However, other therapies are also available that can help with OCD. It can be troubling for young adults who experience the incredible challenge of living with OCD. Parents and caregivers might feel helpless in identifying the proper obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment. The following are the most prevalent options for teens:

Psychotherapy

By participating in a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program, be it ERP or classic CBT, teens will learn to manage their thought processes. A typical type of psychotherapy for teens with OCD is exposure and response prevention. Your teen will work with a therapist through a situation that will create anxiety or trigger their emotions. Teens will learn how to manage their thoughts and actions associated with OCD.

Mindfulness Therapy Practices

Activities such as meditation and yoga can help teens with OCD relax and stop stressing over different life situations. When teens are focused on effectively managing their stressors, they can stop focusing on the cure for OCD and continue managing their symptoms.

Medication

Some people decide to use drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist to help them control their obsessive and compulsive behaviors. These medications include antidepressants such as Prozac and can help reduce anxiety. OCD is not curable but treatable with the right treatment program and support system. Teens can learn to manage their symptoms so that they don’t cause significant disruptions. With obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment, teens will learn how to relax and focus on fulfilling everyday routines versus worrying about other things obsessively. The key to managing OCD is identifying the right treatment program and support groups for your teen.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treatment at Destinations for Teens

When a teenager experiences obsessions over ideas or objects, they will feel triggered to repeat compulsive behaviors. Like other mental health disorders, adults should not ignore these behaviors. Before looking for treatment, parents should know that this disorder needs to be understood and managed. At Destinations for Teens, our stellar mental health treatment programs will support your teen with OCD. In our residential and outpatient options, we provide treatment for OCD so that our teens can begin coping positively. For more information, contact a specialist today by calling 877.466.0620.