Blog Posts from Our OCD Experts

What happens after we die? What is consciousness? Is anything real? Who am I? What is a self? These and many other questions will not be answered in this exploration of Existential OCD.

Substances often provide relief from overwhelming and uncomfortable feelings, such as the stress and discomfort of obsessions and compulsions. Many times, substance use disorders and disorders like OCD, as the title suggest, occur at the same time..

The aim of this blog is not to sway or compel individuals to join a twelve-step program. Instead, it serves as a resource for those with both OCD and SUD who want to benefit from these fellowships but find that their OCD hinders them from enjoying the gifts of their hard-earned sobriety.

As people begin to make progress, their OCD will hang on for dear life, attempting various methods of keeping the person hooked.

While OCD is often associated with more intangible themes or hypothetical concerns, the Obsessive-Compulsive pattern of thinking in those who have the disorder can latch on to more present issues, such as a difficult, and very real, medical diagnosis.

At least once a year I find it helpful to hit the reset button in a big way and, for me, that means a few days of silent meditation.

When you combine OCD with drastic hormonal and physical changes, new health and safety considerations, and family dynamic shifts, it is the perfect storm.

It had been three years since I returned to a silent meditation retreat, thanks to COVID. Yes, I meditated quite regularly over these years, but I have come to view…

OCD may trick you into believing that any shift in mood, thought, or perception may be an indicator of their descent to “losing their mind.”

The thought of forgetting memories or details can create a great deal of anxiety for OCD sufferers.

The pandemic has raised a series of interesting questions about the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

To renew confidence in uncertainty tolerance, OCD checking compulsions can be treated with exposure and response prevention (ERP).

Like other OCD symptoms, checking compulsions follow a pattern: Uncertainty will cause distress and insecurity until a thinker can "check" to feel relief.

Is there a right way to feel, think, and behave during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In Part 2 of this series, Jon Hershfield, MFT gives advice on self-care, catastrophic thinking, and talking to your kids about COVID-19 anxiety.

“Take in what’s useful, of course, but don’t forget to consult with yourself to assess your actual needs.” In times of great stress, we are often told to remember…

This crisis can represent an opportunity to let go of predicting the future and focus instead on what’s right in front of you, here in the present.

The best way to learn how to recognize when you are trying to control something that is out of your control is to learn how to meditate.

Why some with OCD are doing worse, some are doing better, and many are struggling in ways you might not have considered.

Do you suffer from OCD? Learn how to talk about your feelings and experiences with a partner who doesn’t have OCD.

Jon Hershfield, MFT shares his firsthand experience with mindfulness and how he uses it for OCD.

“Basically, attempts to resist these feelings teach your brain that experiencing anxiety and panic is a threat and you are unsafe.” Part one of this blog series…

If you experience panic attacks or have panic disorder, you’re not alone. Learn more about these conditions.

The DSM-V is a catalog of mental health disorders as determined by the American Psychiatric Association with the input of many mental health experts around the world…

It will take courage and maybe a leap of faith to seek help, but you can wake up from the nightmare of living with BDD and learn to change the way you relate to…

Moral scrupulosity OCD, or the relentless pursuit of certainty about one’s morality, can feel like a truly impossible situation. You have a thought about something…

When I was a kid, my parents had their driveway repaved and this left a glorious mound of dirt at the top of it for a few days. It was probably ten feet tall and…

It can be argued that many forms of OCD come down to a fear that lack of vigilance could lead to a loss of identity. One with Harm OCD may worry that failure to…

It’s that time of year again! If you live anywhere near me, the days are shorter, the, weather is colder, and the OCD is counting the ways it can get to you. It…

Loving someone with OCD can be a gut-wrenching experience. When a loved one receives a diagnosis of OCD and begins treatment, this may come as a tremendous relief…

Currently you may only know the suffering associated with Health Anxiety OCD, but through the right treatment, there is hope of learning to appreciate the way your…

Mindfulness, or learning to view thoughts and feelings as observable phenomena instead of “the truth” or “threats,” has been instrumental in my journey through OCD…

Once you understand Hyperawareness Obsessions and how the mind has gotten stuck, you can learn to stop doing what makes sense instinctively (the mental equivalent…

About OCD: For individuals with OCD, having a label for their OCD is a way for them to join with others and feel a part of a group with fellow sufferers.  When…

Gaining mastery over your harm OCD, or gaining mastery over any challenge, means reconciling what’s good for you with what makes you feel good. I recently gave…

Lately, the blogosphere and the online support groups seem to be filling with questions about so-called “false memories” in OCD. In fact, I can tell when it’s time…

Relationship-themed obsessions (sometimes referred to by sufferers as relationship OCD (ROCD)) are not unusual in obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is a walking…

Teens are faced with unique stressors that, for those predisposed to OCD symptoms, can manifest in debilitating ways. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental…

POCD, or unwanted thoughts about pedophilia, is a treatable mental health issue. Cognitive behavioral therapy for OCD helps you recognize and control obsessions.

POCD is an obsessive fear of becoming a pedophile, combining the worst of several common obsessions: harm OCD, sexual orientation OCD, and moral scrupulosity.

Fear of blood can be a trigger for Contamination OCD. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for OCD is the most effective treatment.

A very common form of Contamination OCD involves a fear of semen. Because of its taboo nature, this fear leads to doubt, anxiety, guilt, disgust, and isolation.

Contamination OCD is a treatable condition. Cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention, and mindfulness teach you how to cope healthily.

The fear of harming others is present in many types of OCD. Harm OCD can include contamination harm, sexually themed harm, relationship harm, and more.

Sufferers of Harm OCD often fail to seek help. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) are essential tools in treating Harm OCD.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for Harm OCD allows unwanted thoughts and cognitive distortions to pass through the mind quietly and avoid compulsive behaviors.

Harm OCD is a type of OCD that involves unwanted thoughts of harm or violence toward someone, leading to a variety of compulsive behaviors.

One of the questions that often comes up both in my clinical practice and in the online support groups I contribute to is, “How do I respond to my thoughts?” Or…

HOCD, like all forms of OCD, is treated with CBT and ERP: identify the obsessions and gradually confront them while resisting the compulsive response.

HOCD, an obsession with sexual orientation, causes intrusive, unwanted fears of becoming an orientation that is not your own.