{"id":213655,"date":"2025-10-15T01:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T01:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/213655\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T01:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T01:19:10","slug":"ocd-awareness-week-i-have-a-type-of-ocd-that-most-people-have-never-heard-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/213655\/","title":{"rendered":"OCD Awareness Week \u2014 I Have a Type of OCD That Most People Have Never Heard Of"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been diagnosed with OCD or recognise yourself in any of the above descriptions, it\u2019s crucial to note that obsessions in OCD are ego-dystonic. This means \u201cthe thought or impulse clashes with your sense of self,\u201d says Dr. King. \u201cIt feels alien, wrong, distressing. You don\u2019t want it.\u201d That\u2019s why an OCD sufferer will do anything to try to \u201cget rid\u201d of the thought \u2014 unfortunately, though, performing compulsions only keeps them trapped in the OCD cycle.<\/p>\n

So if engaging in compulsive behaviour doesn\u2019t work to reduce distress, what does? Whether someone is suffering from Pure O OCD or \u201ctraditional\u201d OCD, i.e. where the compulsions are more outwardly obvious, the treatment is often the same: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is considered the gold standard. \u201cERP involves gradually and safely facing the feared thought or situation, while resisting the urge to engage in compulsions,\u201d explains Dr. Touroni. \u201cOver time, this retrains the brain to tolerate uncertainty and reduces the power of the obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201ctraditional\u201d OCD treatment, where compulsions are visible, exposures might look like the patient refraining from washing their hands after being on public transport, or actively cooking with a sharp knife. By contrast, \u201cPure O often requires imaginal exposure \u2014 deliberately thinking or writing about the feared scenario,\u201d says Dr. King. \u201cFor example, someone with Harm OCD might write a story in which they hurt someone and sit with that discomfort, without \u2018undoing\u2019 it with reassurance or checking.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s amazing evidence<\/a> for ERP being a really effective treatment for OCD, I personally found it quite traumatising and had to swap it for gentler modalities such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), which is also known as parts work. I think it\u2019s important to trust that you know yourself and your needs best, and to seek out a therapist who aligns with your needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with many clients who\u2019ve felt re-traumatised by ERP,\u201d says Dr. King. \u201cIf someone has a background of complex trauma, or if their compulsions are wrapped up in survival responses, jumping into ERP too fast can backfire.\u201d In those cases, the therapist would focus first on nervous system regulation, utilising modalities such as IFS and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing).<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Iris Goldsztajn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve been diagnosed with OCD or recognise yourself in any of the above descriptions, it\u2019s crucial to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-213655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}