Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD, describes unwanted obsessive or compulsive behavior that negatively impacts daily life, causes stress, and disrupts relationships. If you rely on problematic repetition to provide a calming sense of relief, attending a mental health treatment program for OCD can help you learn healthier ways to cope with feelings of anxiousness and foreboding.
What Are Obsessions?
Obsessions are thoughts or impulses that occur repeatedly and are challenging to control.
What Are Compulsions?
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or thoughts that a person uses to attempt to make the obsessive thoughts stop.
What Are Obsessive Compulsions?
Obsessive compulsions are repetitive thoughts and actions that relieve feelings of anxiety and foreboding. A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder may know logically that certain repetitive behaviors are hindering them; however, these thoughts and behaviors are very difficult to change without assistance. People develop these habits during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. If struggling with obsessive compulsions has become a way of life for you or a loved one, we invite you to consider treatment at our Portland mental health treatment center and drug rehab.
Examples of OCD
Having OCD causes people to engage in repeated compulsions or actions. When you perform these activities, you feel relieved. However, when these behaviors stop, you experience intense anxiety. Having OCD can damage your life. It keeps you from enjoying the rewards of daily activities. A few common obsessive-compulsions include:
- Obsessive handwashing
- Obsessive cleaning
- Obsessive checking of clocks, locks, or phones
According to the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, about one-quarter of people with OCD also abuse substances, meeting the criteria for addiction. Those experiencing OCD in childhood find themselves at the most significant risk for substance use disorder. OCD can also lead to other mood disorders such as depression or anxiety when left untreated. OCD has nothing to do with the specifics of the thoughts or actions that it causes but refers to the repetitive nature of the thoughts and behaviors.
Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment
Only pursuing treatment for addiction without mental health treatment can lead to substance abuse relapse. The same is true if you only treat the anxiety disorder, with the addiction likely aggravating your OCD. The two conditions create a cycle, feeding into each other and each one driving the other into action.
OCD & Substance Abuse Treatment
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is one of the many mental illnesses alongside addiction as part of a dual diagnosis. This anxiety disorder causes you to suffer irrational fears and anxiety stemming from recurring thoughts. Some people know they suffer OCD before engaging in substance abuse, while others’ OCD starts with addiction. Regardless of which of your conditions came first, you need both addiction and OCD treatment to treat these two closely related concerns.
As said before, you need to break the cycle of addiction and OCD. This comes from treating both conditions at once in a dual diagnosis rehab.
An OCD treatment program focuses on healing your anxiety disorder using talk therapies, individual counseling, group therapy, medication, and other methods. Addiction treatment also involves talk therapies, individual counseling, group therapy, and other techniques. So the two conditions benefit from very similar courses of treatment.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment
People find themselves needing both addiction and OCD treatment because they often self-medicate their OCD using alcohol or drugs. At first, this self-medication seems to help your OCD. However, after you develop tolerance and dependence, your chosen drugs or alcohol no longer help you feel better. Instead, they make you feel worse, and your anxiety flares. In a dual diagnosis treatment program, you gain a streamlined but individualized treatment plan that addresses both conditions for a better future.
If you try to stop using drugs or alcohol, your OCD symptoms worsen in withdrawal. This pattern sends you back to your substance abuse to gain a false sense of life balance. While medication alone does not usually cure OCD, the symptoms can be reduced or eliminated through psychotherapy and antidepressants such as Zoloft or Prozac.
The good news is that OCD treatment in rehab gives you the coping skills and other insights needed to stay on top of your anxiety disorder. You live a healthier and happier life after dual diagnosis care. However, you must maintain your recovery in both conditions or find yourself back amid addiction with intense OCD.
Addiction, Anxiety, and OCD Treatment In Portland, Oregon
In Portland, Crestview Recovery provides dual diagnosis treatment for your OCD, addiction, and other anxiety disorders. Crestview Recovery provides a co-occurring condition rehab for a wide range of addictions and mental illnesses. So, whether you need an OCD treatment program, depression treatment program, or help for other mental illnesses with your substance abuse, Crestview Recovery awaits. Programs at Crestview Recovery include:
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Extended 90-day programs
- Aftercare
- Individual and group therapy
- Trauma therapy and behavioral therapies
- OCD treatment program
- Sober living
Call Crestview Recovery now at 866.262.0531 to learn more about dual diagnosis rehab that includes OCD treatment. You can gain a better life without your anxiety disorder. So, call Crestview Recovery to start healing today.