OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes uncontrollable thoughts, severe anxiety, and compulsive behaviors, a combination that diminishes your quality of life. At Mimi L. Morris, DNP, PMHNP-BC, PLLC, you receive compassionate care, including medication management that targets your symptoms, helps you regain control, and overcome OCD. To schedule a telemedicine appointment, request a consultation online or call the office in Missoula, Montana, today.

What is OCD?

OCD is a mental health condition that causes uncontrollable and unwanted thoughts (obsessions). These obsessions cause such severe anxiety that you’re compelled to engage in behaviors to relieve the stress (compulsions).

Your compulsive behavior may temporarily stop your thoughts, but they eventually return, and you repeat the behavior. This pattern keeps occurring, creating a cycle that can consume most of your day (in severe cases) and disrupt your daily life.

What obsessions does OCD cause?

In many cases, OCD obsessions have a theme. Examples of the most common include:

• Fear of germs
• Fear of being harmed
• Need for cleanliness
• Need for items to be in order
• Disturbing sexual thoughts
• Recurring sounds or images
• Thoughts of aggression or violence
• Fear of saying something offensive 

You know these obsessive thoughts aren’t logical or realistic, but you can’t stop them from returning. 

What compulsions does OCD cause? 

Some people have generic compulsions. No matter their obsessive thoughts, they perform repetitive behaviors such as counting, reading the same passage in a book, going up and down stairs, or saying the same words or phrases.

However, it’s more common for compulsions to follow the theme of your thoughts. Here are a few examples:

Germ obsession

If you have germ obsessions, you may repeatedly wash your hands or keep using a hand sanitizer. 

Fear of being harmed

When your thoughts involve the fear of harm, you may keep checking your door to be sure it’s locked or the stove to reassure yourself it’s turned off. You know you just checked them, but your obsessions compel you to keep repeating the behavior.

Need for order

A need for order makes you keep moving the same items to be sure they’re perfectly aligned or in the proper position, even if you just rearranged them.

How is OCD treated?

For the first step, Mimi completes a thorough psychiatric evaluation. Though some symptoms are uniquely associated with OCD, you may have other symptoms caused by conditions that often occur together with OCD, such as anxiety and panic attacks.

Mimi specializes in individualized medication management. Several medications ease OCD symptoms, but many patients achieve significant improvement with serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These medications increase and regulate the concentration of serotonin, a neurotransmitter in your brain.

Personalized treatment can help you overcome OCD. If you need help, request an appointment online or call Mimi L. Morris, DNP, PMHNP-BD, PLLC, today.