OCD has a cure? What is the treatment?

Expert answer:

OCD has a cure, but it is very difficult to cure the disease definitively. Treatment of OCD, which includes cognitive behavioral therapy (psychotherapy) and medications antidepressants, it may take months or years to begin to take effect, so it should be maintained for quite a while, sometimes for a lifetime.

Mild and moderate cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder may be treated only with psychotherapy and often the patient is free of symptoms, presenting a significant improvement of their quality of life.

In the most severe cases of OCD, the treatment is done with the combination of antidepressant with psychotherapy.

Medications are usually used in high doses and during quite a long time, whereas psychotherapy, through cognitive behavioral therapy, helps the person to control the obsessive thoughts and the compulsive rituals.

What is important is that OCD be treated continuously. The longer the treatment lasts, the more symptoms go away.

With antidepressants and psychotherapy it is possible to improve the lives of the vast majority of patients, and in many cases the symptoms disappear completely. However, some people do not improve or improve very little.

Informing the patient and family about the disorder, the pain it causes and what can be done is another significant part of the treatment.

It is very important to family be well informed about what OCD is and the harm it causes to support the family member and encourage him to seek help.

The psychiatrist is the specialist responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of OCD.