OCD is essentially defined as a
anxiety
disorder. The mind is filled with thoughts "If I fail to do something
or
forget to do something a negative will happen to me". This thought is
often
fed from some subconscious connection of a past event in life. As a
example
the person may have been told something when they were a child. “If you
don't
X you will get Y". Because of this a fear develops and becomes rooted
deep
in the subconscious mind. It did not matter if there was any basis or
actual
fact that supports the reason. Because of lack of real life experience
to
test the statement the thought is accepted as factual.
Once that
happens
it becomes part of the foundation of that persons logic and thinking.
Another
example would be a traumatic experience. A specific action to escape or
end
the traumatic event could be repeated to assure that the situation will
not come back. As a example a person may have been the victim of a home
invasion.
The resulting compulsion is to repeatedly checking to see if all the
doors
and windows are closed and locked. Even if they know they are locked
the
need to check repeatedly is overwhelming.
The list of ways OCD starts
can
go on for several hours of reading. Treatment options are widely
varied,
and each has specific results. Medication is effective but only masks
the
problem. It does nothing to address the underlying root cause.
Typically
insurance companies encourage this method of treatment because it is
the
least expensive in their eyes. The results of the side effects of
medication
can vary.
Often the first thing to suffer is the sex life of that
person.
Then getting off the medications
becomes another separate problem. Another treatment option is
Psychotherapy. This
tends to be long term therapy and eventually may hit on the root cause
buried
deep in the subconscious mind.
Yet another faster therapy is
Hypnotherapy.
This is because Hypnosis deals directly with the subconscious mind. If
the
root cause is unknown a Hypnotic technique known as age regression can be very helpful in
identifying
the events that set OCD in motion. Once the cause is identified
Hypnosis
becomes a powerful tool to set things right.
To use the example above on home invasion the Hypnotherapy would
probably
go like this; Assuming that the cause "Home invasion" was not known.
The
first step would be to identify all the OCD elements like closing
windows
and doors. Second would be to see how they are connected. Also ask to
see
if they can recall about when the behavior started. If they are not
able
to answer that then age regression
would
be uses as a discovery tool. Note that the use of age regression has the potential of
reducing
the discovery time. Once the root cause is identified, the subconscious
is
addressed and the problem is resolved. In this case a overactive fear of the situation reoccurring may have been
the
root cause.
Active and Dormant Roots
OCD can be described as a weed. Unless you get all the roots it will
grow back. In many cases there are dormant roots. Meaning that the
active roots are satisfying the need and some roots just go dormant. It
is nearly impossible to identify dormant roots. During therapy the
active roots are removed and the symptoms subside. After some time a
dormant roots may become active and the symptoms reoccur. At that time
therapy should resume to deal with the new active roots. The key is to
come back to therapy as soon as they start to show up. Like a root they
get thicker and deeper the longer you wait. Dealing with the newly
active roots is often quicker and simpler because often only the need
to modify the original therapy is required. This cycle may occur
several times and at different time intervals, but ultimately they all
will be removed. The number of cycles differ and not everyone has
dormant roots.
Direct approach
Because
Hypnosis deals directly with the subconscious mind
the
results are much faster than conventional talk therapy that deals with
the
conscious mind. Taking medications does nothing to resolve the problem,
they
are only masked or swept under the carpet so to speak. If you are only
taking
medications and getting no other treatment, I would recommend you give
some
serious thought as to the quality of help you are getting. Please keep
in mind Insurance companies want to find the most cost effective way,
and not what is necessarily best for you.
The intent of this page is to educate you to some of the underlying
causes
and available treatment options. If you have any questions or concerns
please
feel free to contact me for your free
confidential phone
consultation to discuss treatment options.
Too far away? Consider using
Skype for this form of hypnotherapy.