OCD 101

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that does impact the global majority, though BIPOC individuals may not gain access to care at the rates as their counterparts. An obsession is when someone has persistent, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that are unwanted and cause extreme distress or discomfort. Obsessions can be focused on bad things happening in the context of:

• Contamination
• Dying/death (yourself or a loved one)
• Relationships
• Sexuality & gender identity
• Harm/violence
• Perfectionism
• Religion & morality
• Relationships
• One’s personality

Someone with OCD considers these things bad because the thoughts they have within these categories are not in line with their values. OCD affects 2-3 million adults in the U.S. and can be debilitating. It is not a joke or quirk, and shouldn’t be used to describe someone who simply has preferences.

Compulsions are behaviors that are usually repetitive, and people engage in them as a faulty attempt to rid themselves of the distress or obsessions. Unfortunately, they cause obsessions to come back, and usually stronger. They are exhausting and prevent you from living the best life possible.

OCD is a terrorist, a monster, a bully and is not a protective friend. YOU, however, are wonderful and amazing in spite of what it tells you. OCD ISN’T something that has to ruin your life forever.

What’s ERP?

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a type of therapy that is evidence based and used to treat OCD and related disorders. It is under the umbrella of cognitive behavior therapy. Doing an exposure means you’re bravely, and intentionally choosing to move toward your fears in a structured, thoughtful manner, for a prolonged period of time. Doing so may temporarily increase your intrusive thoughts or distress, and urge to do a compulsion. That’s where response prevention comes in! The act of preventing yourself from responding to your fears by using compulsions, is what ultimately helps you reclaim your life in a sustainable way. ERP creates new neural pathways within your brain, allowing you to see your thoughts, simply as thoughts, rather than something to be pursued or believed.

This likely sounds scary. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone AND there are actually BIPOC trained ERP specialists to support you! Learning to effectively go through this process with a trained ERP therapist will help you learn how to face your fears efficiently and meaningfully. As a BIPOC individual with OCD, having this support from a BIPOC trained therapist, allows you to build your confidence back up, without getting caught up in having to explain your identity or be afraid of admitting scary things for fear of being even more “othered” or inaccurately presumed to be aligned with the thoughts that plague you.

Register here for our OCD – ERP Essentials talk, which is offered monthly for those with lived experience!