Can OCD be Cured?

Over the course of a single year, almost 44 million Americans will deal with some form of mental illness. That’s according to NAMI—the National Alliance on Mental Illness. So if you’ve recently been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or think you might have the condition, don’t worry. It’s highly treatable, and more common than you might think. Statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health put the number of Americans living with OCD at over 40 million. 

And while a diagnosis of OCD can be frustrating, there’s a lot of help out there for you. But let’s back up for a moment and define what OCD is, how it’s treated, and why worrying less may be a key part to improving your quality of life with the condition.

What Is OCD?

The odds are good that if you’ve ever Googled a symptom, you’ve landed on a Mayo Clinic page. They’re a non-profit academic medical center located in Rochester, Minnesota—and a source of solid, science-backed information. They define OCD as a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears known as obsessions. These obsessions lead to repetitive behaviors, also called compulsions. Hence the term OCD. 

Our own experts at NOCD have a similar definition: “People with OCD experience repetitive and intrusive thoughts, images, urges, sensations, and/or feelings, called obsessions. These obsessions don’t align with your actual values or desires. Often, they’re the exact opposite: A loving mother might be overwhelmed with mental images of hurting her newborn. Or a devoted grade school teacher may be consumed with fears about being sexually attracted to his students,” says NOCD Chief Clinical Officer Patrick McGrath, PhD. 

That last point is critical, and something we’re going to spend some time unpacking in this article.

But first, I want to ask you a question. You don’t have to answer it. Just think about it, because it could help you on your journey to figuring out if you have OCD or not.

Do your intrusive thoughts impact the quality of your life? It’s one thing to have them. Everyone does from time to time! It’s another for them to be disruptive. That’s the key to pinpointing OCD. 

It’s easy to think you might have OCD and not actually have it, says Dr. McGrath. The difference between an obsessive thought that’s annoying, and an obsessive thought that’s OCD can look like this: “You could be driving through a neighborhood, see children playing across the street, and then hit a pothole,” explains Dr. McGrath. “The difference between having OCD and not having it can be defined by how you react to hitting that pothole. You could hit it and be like, Oh man. That pothole was huge, and keep driving. 

But if you have OCD, you could start worrying that maybe it wasn’t a pothole you hit. Maybe it was one of the kids you saw playing and you just didn’t notice them. It’s a subtype called harm OCD. And then you follow those obsessive thoughts: You start to think about driving back just to make sure it was a pothole that you hit and not a kid. It’s the compulsion that follows the intrusive thought that helps to define whether or not you have OCD.”

OCD is something I suffer from, as well. So a similar example is something I experienced as a student at the University of Buffalo. Whenever I left my apartment at Creekside Village, I’d touch the door to make sure it was locked. Then, usually about 20 minutes into class, I’d start to panic because of intrusive thoughts telling me I didn’t actually lock the door. That obsessive thought was then followed by an action. I would text my (very) patient roommate, and ask him to check and make sure the door was locked. (This is another type called checking OCD.) The basic pattern, no matter what your type of OCD goes like this:

Intrusive thoughts + Compulsion to act on that thought = Potential OCD.

Intrusive Thoughts – Compulsion to act = Most likely, not OCD.

As Dr. McGrath explains, the need to act on your intrusive thoughts and “neutralize” them in some way is key to understanding obsessive compulsive disorder and whether or not you have it. Another sign is if your obsessions and compulsions take up a lot of your time on a daily basis, and are impacting your quality of life. That’s when annoying obsessive thoughts become something that could be OCD, and should be investigated by a mental health practitioner.

So Can OCD Be Cured?

According to Dr. McGrath, there’s technically no cure for OCD, but it can 100% be managed. And there are plenty of effective methods for tackling your OCD and living a life largely without obsessions and compulsions. For example, getting as much sleep as you can, exercising, and eating healthy will not only help you live longer, it’ll help manage your symptoms. I know the sleep thing is easier said than done, we’re all supposed to be shooting for at least seven high-quality hours, but do what you can.

As far as treatment, the gold-standard is a type of therapy called ERP, or Exposure Response Prevention Therapy. ERP therapy is like a way calmer version of the old TV show, “Fear Factor.” If you don’t remember it, people were basically asked to face their fears in order to win fabulous (and not so fabulous) prizes. They also got to hang out with Joe Rogan for a while, which could be a prize or punishment depending on your view of Joe Rogan. 

I joke. But the truth is that unlike “Fear Factor,” ERP has been clinically proven to be highly effective at treating OCD. By exposing you, slowly, to something that causes you discomfort or may trigger intrusive thoughts. This is done along with a therapist trained in ERP, who is there to help guide you through the process. Usually, you’ll start with something small and tolerable, and then work your way up to the bigger triggers in your life. The goal being that as you’re gradually exposed to each of these, your brain will recognize that there’s nothing to be upset or fearful about—so there’s no reason to do meaningless compulsions. It’s really a remarkable form of therapy, and great for tackling the kind of OCD that has specific triggers. 

Your medical provider may also suggest a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Everyone’s genetics and medical history is different, so the SSRI medication you’re prescribed could vary. For one example, I use Fluoxetine. This is because my therapist and psychiatrist have coordinated with my neurologist to see if the dosage and use of this specific drug can mitigate the migraines I suffer from. So the type of medication you may be prescribed can vary greatly if you don’t totally respond to ERP treatment, or if a provider feels you could benefit from both the ERP treatment and the medication.

And by the way, don’t let the lack of a cure bum you out. It is possible to find long-term relief from OCD. There are new methods of treatment constantly being developed and discovered. For example, Carolyn Rodriguez, MD, PhD, an associate dean at Stanford University and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has investigated the use of the drug ketamine to treat OCD for people who can’t manage the condition through the use of ERP and SSRIS. For many years, Ketamine was used as anesthesia for surgery. But beginning in 2006, according to Stanford Magazine, ketamine was found to almost immediately reduce the symptoms of OCD once the drug had been introduced into their body. 

Then there’s acceptance, which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s recognizing the intrusive thoughts for what they are—temporary annoyances—and not trying to suppress them or respond to them in a way that could cause you to spiral. 

I used to be really bad at this. Any time I got an intrusive thought, I’d put my index finger to my head and think, Stop it. Don’t do that. You’re giving the intrusive thought way more power and attention that it deserves. Practicing just noticing the thought, acknowledging it, and letting it go is easier said than done. It takes practice. But doing this over and over will help you better manage the intrusive thoughts as they come. 

Accepting that the intrusive thoughts don’t make you a bad person, and that there’s no “should” or “shouldn’t” when it comes to these thoughts provides relief. 

And that took accepting that my intrusive thoughts are nothing to worry about, and that they don’t reflect my character in any way shape or form. Believe me. I’ve lived it. It took a long time, but my OCD is mostly under control these days. And I barely have intrusive thoughts at all. OCD does not have to control your life. It doesn’t control mine, and it won’t control yours if you’re willing to put in the work.

What Does Success Look Like For Life With OCD?

A fulfilling life with OCD—is it possible? Yes! I tend to look at it like this: I’ve lived with the disease since 2015, can I think more clearly than I used to? You bet. Rituals aside, do I have control over my schedule on any given day and what I spend my time on? Yes. Are my intrusive thoughts reduced to a very manageable amount each day? Yup! Does obsessive worry keep me from going out and doing things? Nope. Not at all. 

I consider that success. But success will look different for everyone. The key is to reclaim the time lost to rituals, obsessions, or worries. Howard Stern has been very public about his struggles with OCD and depression. Soccer superstar David Beckham also suffers from OCD. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessica Alba too. And even Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, has spoken about his struggles with OCD. These are all highly successful people at the top of their game. So a happy, successful life where you do the things you want to do is entirely possible when you’re living with OCD. There will be work to be done, but you can get where you want to go.

So if you’re worried that you have OCD because of intrusive thoughts, I encourage you not to worry too much. But if you have intrusive thoughts and you find the need to perform some action to alleviate those thoughts, that’s when you can seek out a professional and give ERP a try.