Cognitive Hypnotherapy For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a distressing condition where the sufferer can feel compelled to repetitively undertake certain physical and / or mental rituals as a way of avoiding the possibility of something unpleasant happening in the future if they don't complete these tasks properly. In the worst cases these behaviours can take up a large part of a person's day-to-day life and severely interfere with their abiity to live a normal existence.
OCD (particularly the more severe forms) has both biochemical and mental origins. Cognitive Hypnotherapy can be used to succcessfully work on the mental side, whereas the biochemical side can be tackled if necessary alongside, with traditional medication such an SSRI or via alternative nutritional therapy routes that aim to boost the amount of serotonin reaching the brain.
Patients I see with OCD tend to either obsess mentally about certain areas (a form of OCD known as Pure-O), or can tip over into the physical rituals too. OCD symptoms are often present in patients with eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia especially) which is not surprising as they tend to become obsessive about food, calories, weight, appearance etc.
I'm increasingly seeing OCD appearing in older children and young people, perhaps as a result of the higher levels of stress they are now placed under, particularly at school. The hormonal changes that occur during these years may also be a contributory factor, as may some element of genetic predisposition.