The OCD Brain
It's not your fault that you have OCD. Welcome back to "Bossing Up: Overcoming OCD,” where we empower you to boss up in every aspect of your life. In this episode, I’m exploring "The OCD Brain." Learn the complexities and get insights into overcoming the challenges associated with OCD.
1. Breaking the Stigma | Advocacy and Awareness:
- Exploring the importance of raising awareness about OCD and getting the right treatment.
- Encouraging open conversations about mental health.
2. The OCD Brain Explained:
- Exploring the neurobiology of OCD and how it manifests in the brain.
- Discussing the role of neurotransmitters and brain circuits in OCD symptoms.
3. Inside the Mind of OCD:
- Gain insights into the cognitive aspects of OCD.
- Discussing effective therapeutic approaches and strategies for managing OCD.
4. Neuroplasticity:
- Understanding the brain's ability to learn new skills across the lifespan.
- Highlighting the importance of lifelong learning and engagement for brain health.
Check out attention training videos like this one.
Remember that you are not alone in your journey. By understanding the intricacies of OCD and adopting effective strategies, you can boss up and take control of your life. Thank you for joining us at “Bossing Up: Overcoming OCD.” Until next time, keep bossing up!
References:
1. Suicide Risk in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Exploration of Risk Factors: A Systematic Review
3. What Part of the Brain Deals With Anxiety? What Can Brains Affected by Anxiety Tell us?
4. Obsessive‐compulsive disorder: Etiology, neuropathology, and cognitive dysfunction
5. What Does an OCD Brain Look Like?
00:00 Introduction to OCD Awareness with NoCD
00:33 Exploring the OCD Brain: Science and Neuroplasticity
01:48 Understanding OCD: Brain Function and Cognitive Errors
05:50 The Fight or Flight Response and Its Impact
10:00 Navigating Stress with the SUD Scale
15:19 Deep Dive into the Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala
22:15 Breaking the OCD Cycle: Techniques and Attention Training
27:12 The Power of Neuroplasticity in Overcoming OCD
29:38 Looking Ahead: Relationship OCD Series
31:06 Closing Thoughts and Resources
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[00:00:00] Erin H. Davis: We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.
[00:00:25] Erin H. Davis: Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to N O C D dot com to get evidence based treatment.
[00:00:33] Erin H. Davis: Ever wondered what really goes on inside the OCD brain. Curious about the science behind the OCD brain. Or what is this thing called? Neuroplasticity? What if your loved ones could understand the OCD brain?
[00:00:50] Erin H. Davis: And this leads to getting greater compassion and support.
[00:00:55] Erin H. Davis: We're going to be talking about all of these things and more in today's episode.
[00:00:59] Erin H. Davis: Hi, I'm Erin, licensed clinical mental health counselor and OCD specialist. I'm also a Christian, wife, mom to three, and small business owner, helping those who are overwhelmed by stress to climb out of that valley and enjoy the view. Reheat your coffee and pop in your AirPods to learn how to boss up to OCD.
[00:01:24] Erin H. Davis: You've heard me talk about the importance of getting the right treatment for OCD. And one study found that OCD was missed in 70% of patients. It takes an average of 14 to 17 years for someone with OCD to be correctly diagnosed and find appropriate treatment. Not getting the right treatment can lead to prolonged suffering.
[00:01:48] Erin H. Davis: We're going to be talking today about the brain and get an overview, a simplistic overview of how the brain works when you have OCD, because neuro imaging is showing that an OCD brain does look different than someone who does not have OCD. It's not your fault that you have OCD. The different parts of your brain are not communicating the way you need them to. Normally you can flip a light switch and feel like the task is complete. However someone with an OCD brain will feel like that that task is incomplete. Not only is it incomplete, your brain is going to take it to another level that I catastrophic event [00:02:30] will happen because that light switch was not switched off. Quote on quote correctly. Our brain does really well and creating stories and narratives.
[00:02:39] Erin H. Davis: In fact, our brain really latches on to stories. even when you're in church, you're going to be present for the message. The preacher is. Sharing the scriptures and the verses, but you're not going to necessarily remember what the preacher said, you're going to remember the stories he shared. So our brain is designed to keep us safe, help us survive and help make sense of our crazy chaotic world.
[00:03:04] Erin H. Davis: With your brain. And if you have a CD, you may be experiencing like this by-product of your brains. Inability and reduced ability to appropriately shift your attention. Remember an episode three when I was talking about intrusive thoughts and the vast majority of people are not bothered by intrusive thoughts. These thoughts that create intrusion, they view them as benign and let them pass. But someone with OCD. The brain latches onto those intrusive thoughts and really brings a lot of attention to those obsessions and ideas. There's. A decreased connection. And the front part of your brain will refer to that as the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe.
[00:03:54] Erin H. Davis: Is broken down into one other sub part here called the prefrontal cortex. Imagine this, the front part of the brain, the part that's right behind the forehead connects to another part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is a deeper part within our brain. This communication between your frontal lobe and the amygdala are off, they're not firing, connecting, communicating the way they need to. Your brain may form what we call cognitive errors. These errors may look like number one, having a heightened sense of responsibility, which feels like you have this. Distinct responsibility. To avoid having bad outcomes or avoiding catastrophic events. Number two is an overemphasis on thought.
[00:04:44] Erin H. Davis: So you may be thinking about. An event and you get this feeling that the more you think about this event, then the more it's going to become true. This reminds me of that manifestation idea that we hear a lot today. Number three is controlling thoughts. So feeling like [00:05:00] you can have full control over your thinking and by doing so, that's going to create some sort of outcome in the real world or in reality that you can control with your thoughts. Number four is an overestimation of threat, meaning like these bad outcomes.
[00:05:18] Erin H. Davis: Have I high probability of occurring? And creating disastrous consequences. Number five is perfectionism. That if your actions are not done exactly the right way. Then you're going to experience some sort of. Intolerable event. Something that you can't, you know, put up with. Number six is an intolerance of uncertainty.
[00:05:43] Erin H. Davis: This means that you need to be fully reassured that these bad things will not happen.
[00:05:49] Erin H. Davis: Let's talk about. What happens whenever we're first experiencing anxiety and that is going to come from our flight or fight response. So what is the fight or flight response? This is a primitive. Instinct that we all have. With the fight or flight, it's a physiological and psychological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived threat or danger.
[00:06:14] Erin H. Davis: It's an evolutionary adaptation that our body does in order to prepare us when confronting a threat, either we're going to fight this thing or we're going to flee, which is the flight part. So we're going to run away.
[00:06:27] Erin H. Davis: Here's a breakdown of those key components of the fight or flight response. First we have that perception of the threat, meaning the brain, particularly that amygdala, the amygdala is the part of the brain that's deep within your brain. That will perceive the threat and this threat can be real or imagined. the amygdala will start to send signals to the other part of the brain that we need to get ready for this fight or flee response.
[00:06:54] Erin H. Davis: It's going to start to trigger a rapid response for your survival instincts.
[00:07:00] Erin H. Davis: Number two, once the threat is detected, we are releasing. Neuro-transmitters AKA. Brain chemicals like adrenaline. Cortisol and norepinephrine into our bloodstream. Number three. This gets into those involuntary bodily functions that you feel.
[00:07:21] Erin H. Davis: That's what makes anxiety feel more real is when they were we're feeling it physically in our body. So that third thing that happens is an increased heart rate. [00:07:30] Your heart rate is beating rapidly to pump more blood to your muscles and your vital organs. This ensures that your body receives more oxygen and nutrients preparing for this physical exertion or this physical activity that you're about to do in order to survive. Number four. Your pupils dilate because you need to allow more light to enter in enhancing your visual perception. This will help you in quickly assessing your environment and potential threats.
[00:07:58] Erin H. Davis: So fascinating, right? How our body takes care of us. Number five is an opening of your airway so your lungs will dilate allowing for increased air flow. This helps optimize your respiratory system. You can have more energy and the energy is being produced at higher amounts.
[00:08:17] Erin H. Davis: So that again, you can fight or flee. Number six is a releasing of glucose. The liver releases glucose into your bloodstream, which provides additional fuel for your muscles. Ensuring that you can have a quick and efficient energy source. Wow. Number seven is inhibition of non-essential. Body functions. Your body is putting all of its focus and energy on the necessary parts you need in order to survive. Your digestive system is going to be cut off during this time and activities related to your immune system, because those are not essential in your immediate survival at that moment in time. And they will come back online.
[00:08:56] Erin H. Davis: Once that threat is.
[00:08:59] Erin H. Davis: Gone. Last part here is there is an increased blood flow to your muscles. Blood is being redirected from your non-essential organs. Like, you know, your digestive system and it's going to be pumping to. Your other muscles that will enhance your strength and your responsiveness to prepare for your physical action for your physical response. the fight or flight response, it's an adaptive way and crucial for your survival and has been crucial for our survival. Throughout time.
[00:09:33] Erin H. Davis: While our fight or flight response is effective in responding to immediate threats. Having this fight or flight response turn on for long periods of time can create that chronic stress response, which I've talked about in previous episodes and it leads to these negative effects on your longterm health.
[00:09:57] Erin H. Davis: When you are feeling this amount of [00:10:00] stress. You're going to talk with your OCD specialist or your anxiety therapist. About the particular level of stress that you're experiencing. You're going to learn the set scale and the set scale is a great way for you and your therapist to communicate where you are on the level of your anxiety.
[00:10:18] Erin H. Davis: Now, in my practice, I use a scale of one to 10. Some therapists use scales from zero to 100. Whatever scale works for you, you and your therapist will be communicating. In order to help understand where you are on your journey. It's just a self-report measure that you use between. You and your therapist and it helps the therapist understand as well as you to gain more insight, but your. Communicating the intensity or level of distress that you're experiencing in response to a certain situation. Or a certain situation thought or feeling. So this scale is often used in therapeutic settings and you'll especially experience this scale when you're doing cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention. All right.
[00:11:05] Erin H. Davis: And so when I'm asking you to rate your experience of distress, it's all relative. And I do come across many patients who say, well, I feel silly for. Feeling this way and I want to normalize, like it's okay. It's okay. Your fears, your fear.
[00:11:23] Erin H. Davis: And we're here to address your fears, not your neighbor's fears. Okay. Or what your neighbor thinks of your fears? No, we're here to talk about your individual stress.
[00:11:34] Erin H. Davis: So here's the breakdown and the general interpretation of the set scale.
[00:11:38] Erin H. Davis: And you can also think about it like a bale chart or a thermometer. So. With that thermometer a one means minimal or no distress, a two or three mild distress. Four or five is moderate distress. Six or seven significant distress. 8 9, 10 severe.
[00:12:02] Erin H. Davis: And the set scale is often using the exposure therapy where we will. Take a hierarchy and gain a ladder and perspective on what is the highest on your list. What's the lowest in typically we're going to start at the lowest fear in order to help you feel accomplished and start those building blocks to go higher up on your ladder. For example, when we're treating phobias or anxiety disorders, a person [00:12:30] is going to be exposed to their feared object or situation. While simultaneously. Sharing their distress on the SUD scale.
[00:12:38] Erin H. Davis: If you have a fear of spiders, you're going to say, oh, even like looking at a spider will put me in a seven, but if I have to hold a spider, I'm going to be at a 10. And so this helps communicate. Where you are in your stress. And then let's say we do. Engage in that exposure of looking at a spider.
[00:12:59] Erin H. Davis: You're going to say yes, I'm at a seven. And it's also okay. If you were anxiety, I know it doesn't feel okay. But it is normal. If your anxiety goes up for a minute and you will notice that your anxiety will come down and eventually we will. Close up and wrap up the exposure whenever your response, or whenever your stress comes down into that. More mild distress range, like a one, two or three. You will be surprised at how quickly it can come down through repeated exercises.
Again, finding
[00:13:32] Erin H. Davis: an OCD specialist
that
[00:13:34] Erin H. Davis: will walk you through these exposures
because
[00:13:36] Erin H. Davis: you shouldn't do these things alone. Because you may accidentally create more harm or be unsuccessful and feel discouraged.
[00:13:44] Erin H. Davis: All in all that said, scale is a way for you and your therapist to communicate. Your experience with the stress. If I'm working with a teenager, I will also teach the parents how to use this SUD scale so that they can better communicate with our child and the conversation could be okay. I understand that you're at a six, what can I do to help bring you down to a five? It can be a valuable tool for assessing how effective the therapy is or understanding what coping skills we can use or the coping skills that are helping whenever we are experiencing that. Distress.
[00:14:20] Erin H. Davis: We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.
[00:14:44] Erin H. Davis: If you think you may be struggling with Relationship OCD, there's hope. NoCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. NoCD therapists are trained in Exposure Response Prevention Therapy, the gold standard treatment for OCD. With [00:15:00] NoCD, you can do virtual, live, face to face video sessions with one of their licensed specialty trained therapists.
[00:15:07] Erin H. Davis: It's affordable and they accept most major insurance plans. Breaking the relationship OCD cycle takes effective treatment. To get started with NoCD. Go to nocd. com slash savage.
[00:15:19] Erin H. Davis: Getting back to the parts of the brain. First we've got that frontal lobe, which includes all those parts of the brain that are located behind your forehead. We're going to specifically focus on the prefrontal cortex.
[00:15:32] Erin H. Davis: That is the very front part of your frontal lobe. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that plays a crucial role in Thinking and cognitive functions and executive functioning. Processes. Processes. Processes processes. Tomato tomato.
[00:15:50] Erin H. Davis: All right. So the prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in a lot of our cognitive functioning. It is involved with complex decision-making social interactions, personality expression. And moderating our behavior. So let me tell you some key functions that are associated with our prefrontal cortex. First and foremost, and this comes up a lot with like ADHD folks is the executive function. The executive functioning. Means it's that planning. Organizing. Initiating slash starting task. And inhibiting action.
[00:16:29] Erin H. Davis: So we call that like response inhibition, which means your ability to not do something. Then the executive functioning also includes problem-solving, being flexible. Another piece of the prefrontal cortex is your working memory.
[00:16:46] Erin H. Davis: With your working memory, you're using information you need for a cognitive task, and it allows you to hold information and process information over short periods of time. Number three is the decision-making. So you are able to assess potential outcomes. Evaluate consequences. And it helps you make an informed decision based upon either your past experiences or future goals, et cetera. All right.
[00:17:14] Erin H. Davis: Number four. With the inhibitory control, which is a mouthful to say it allows you to suppress your inappropriate or impulsive responses. And that helps you regulate. Your behavior, meaning it helps you be on good behavior.
[00:17:29] Erin H. Davis: Number five [00:17:30] is the emotional regulation where you are able to manage your emotional reactions. So you've probably been in a situation where you feel angry, but your prefrontal cortex is going to come online and say, Hey, it's not appropriate for us to be an angry in this moment. So let's. Chill out and respond appropriately.
[00:17:51] Erin H. Davis: That's where the emotional regulation part of your prefrontal cortex will say, let's understand the emotions of others in the context of the situation, and let's be socially appropriate. It's fascinating. Right? How all of these things are happening in your mind so quickly.
[00:18:08] Erin H. Davis: Let me talk about the rest of the highlights of the prefrontal cortex. Then we've got like attention and concentration. So the prefrontal cortex is in charge of the attention.
[00:18:21] Erin H. Davis: The prefrontal cortex is in charge of your attention and concentration. With this being said, You can have more sustained concentration or it helps you focus on individual tasks and focus out irrelevant information. We can see how this is key. Whenever it comes to OCD, the OCD brain is not able to block out that irrelevant information.
[00:18:43] Erin H. Davis: Prefrontal cortex is. A major player when it comes to the OCD brain. Second player in this dynamic is the amygdala. So the amygdala is located deep within your brain. And fun fact, the amygdala is the size of an almond. All right. And with this home in size, part of your brain, it is wreaking havoc all over your body. So even though the amygdala is small, it can have very big feelings and reactions within your body. On average, the amygdala is the size of an almond. The other interesting thing about the OCD brain is that the amygdala tends to be larger. And once someone goes through therapy and does the exposure and response prevention. Can you believe that the amygdala gets smaller? Incredible.
[00:19:35] Erin H. Davis: Right. This goes to show that the brain can change. Things can absolutely change with therapy and we can see it on brain imaging. It's fascinating. With the amygdala, being this small almond shaped structure.
[00:19:51] Erin H. Davis: It's playing a crucial role in processing your emotions. Informing emotional memories. Of course there are individual. [00:20:00] Anatomy differences, but I'm just going to speak in general terms about they made doula.
[00:20:04] Erin H. Davis: Well, the amygdala is going to play a big role in the OCD brain because it's forming these emotional responses. And you're feeling very fearful with the certain triggers. And then that contributes to maintaining this OCD cycle. . So let's talk about the cycle that happens within the brain. Whenever we have OCD. So we've got the prefrontal cortex, number one, the amygdala number two. And the trigger is taking a test. So our amygdala starts to set off signals that we are in danger. The prefrontal cortex is then thinking like, oh, I'm going to fail.
[00:20:44] Erin H. Davis: And so even more stresses coming. The cortisol and the adrenaline is starting to release into the body and you get that whoosh of fear and your. Noticing that your heart's racing, your palms are sweaty. And you're starting to get this urge to do something, to feel better. Maybe you want to avoid the situation you want to get reassurance. Whatever that looks like. Once you do the behavior, then you get relief. And your make Della starts to calm down. And so then we are creating a vicious cycle of a false sense of security. And so that's what happens whenever your medulla gets set off. You're starting to think about what can I do to get rid of this distress and this uncertainty. The behavior happens. You get relief. And then all of a sudden you're like that must be the thing I need to do in order to feel better. Whenever you have a counting or checking type of compulsion, that's how you've probably come up, come up with like, oh, I need to check this thing. Five times, or I need to count something three times. Right because. Somewhere along the way , your brain has learned that this is the magic number, or this is the magic thing I need to do in order to get the stress relief.
[00:22:04] Erin H. Davis: Therefore you are continually. Contributing to the loop in the cycle and round and round we go until it really becomes all consuming.
One of the techniques we talk about in therapy and working with OCD is doing some attention training. And attention training refers to a set of techniques and exercises designed to help you improve and [00:22:30] enhance your ability to focus and direct your attention. And it's often used to help with your cognitive functioning or with your mental wellbeing. The goal of attention training is to help you develop and strengthen your cognitive skills related to attention, concentration and awareness. Here's some common ways and methods of attention training.
[00:22:55] Erin H. Davis: First of all, is the mindfulness meditation, which I have that private podcast coming out. If you want to sign up for that wait list, I've got the link in the show notes. The mindfulness is a practice that involves bringing your attention to the present moment. With mindfulness meditation, you're going to be practicing techniques like focus, breathing, body scanning. As well as bringing awareness to the here and now, which reduces the mind wandering.
[00:23:24] Erin H. Davis: It's redirecting your focus away from the obsessions.
[00:23:28] Erin H. Davis: A second way that you can do the attention training is through cognitive programs. So there are some computer-based or online programs designed to help train. Specific cognitive functions like attention. And I've got, or, well, I got a link that I will put in the show notes.
[00:23:48] Erin H. Davis: That's for attention training and it's on YouTube, so it's free, but these programs may involve tasks. That requires sustained attention, selective attention. Or the ability to shift your attention between different stimuli or different things that would normally capture your attention. One example of the video that I'll be putting in the show notes. Is, you're looking at a scene in a forest and you're hearing rain. You're going to be. Shifting your attention between the rain sounds and the sounds of the wind or the birds, et cetera. A third way is through brain games and puzzles. So just like engaging in activities like puzzles, crosswords, and brain games. You are challenging your brain and working those muscles to improve your attention. These activities like with the puzzles and crosswords, they require sustained attention and focus, which also helps. Build up our ability to filter out distractions so we can all really benefit from filtering out distractions.
[00:24:53] Erin H. Davis: Then number four is attention building exercises. Just like with any exercise, you're going to be building up your [00:25:00] strength in order to reach your goal. So in this sense, you're going to be doing something like staring at a fixed object. And you're going to bring more concentration to that object. And then eventually you're going to be gradually increasing. The difficulty, it takes to focus on the object.
[00:25:19] Erin H. Davis: You're going to be challenging and improving your attention skills. Number five is what's called biofeedback training. Biofeedback involves looking at some physiological factors like your heart rate. So you're going to be getting real-time feedback on what your heart rate is at the moment. You will be bringing your attention to your heart rate. With biofeedback training, you're going to be bringing attention. To those physiological responses and become aware of them. For example, with your heart rate, you're going to be paying attention to your heart rate and learn how to regulate your heart rate in order to improve your focus.
[00:26:01] Erin H. Davis: Number six is yoga.
[00:26:03] Erin H. Davis: And with yoga, you are using physical movements. You're controlling your breath. You're using those mindfulness techniques of being in the here and now. Which then promotes relaxation and improved attention. It's kind of hard to do yoga. If you're thinking about work. Okay. Number seven. Is cognitive behavioral therapy. So in therapy. Someone who uses cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT for short may include the attention training as part of the approach to help you in improving your attention skills. So, this is very helpful when you were feeling anxious, for example. Attention training can be beneficial for all. For people, all ages from children to older adults. Attention training can be used as a proactive approach for maintaining your cognitive health. Your attention training skills will get better over time. And you typically need to practice for longer amounts of time in order to see meaningful improvements.
[00:27:10] Erin H. Davis: All right. Last part of the show today. I want to talk about neuro-plasticity. And before I get into neuro-plasticity, I want to put into perspective that with exposure and response prevention or ARP, we know that your brain is learning new ways to tolerate the discomfort that [00:27:30] comes from the obsessions.
[00:27:32] Erin H. Davis: So when you use ERP and you stick with the situation that produces all of that discomfort, Doubt and uncertainty. You will learn how to deal with the stress. So your brain is meant to learn new things and it's open to gaining new knowledge and your brain can change.
[00:27:52] Erin H. Davis: In knowing that your brain can change, that is the basis for neuroplasticity. And neuro-plasticity. Is the ability of the brain to reorganize and adapt by forming new neural connections throughout your life. So your brain can continue to produce. And learn new skills, even at an older age. So with neuro-plasticity it can also help in recovering from injuries. But mainly, and especially with the focus of OCD, it can adapt to changing circumstances. So while neuro-plasticity is more profound during your early developmental years, research has shown that the adult brain remains capable of significant changes even throughout life.
[00:28:44] Erin H. Davis: All right. Some ways that you can achieve this neuro-plasticity effect. Is through cognitive training like going through therapy and working with a cognitive behavioral therapist. It's also doing physical exercise and then those other forms of learning that I mentioned earlier, all of those activities can induce the changes in your brain. Which then just again, reemphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and engaging in brain health.
[00:29:13] Erin H. Davis: That's all for today's episode on the OCD brain. Go to my website to find the research I'm referencing in today's episode. You can find this specific episode on my website at value-driven therapy.com/blog/the OCD brain. While you're at my website, scroll to the bottom and sign up for my email newsletter. Remember. You are more than your thoughts.
[00:29:38] Erin H. Davis: Next month, I'm going to be talking about relationship OCD. We've got Valentine's day coming up and Valentine's is just such a fun way to talk about love and relationships, but it also very much shows up for an OCD suffer and impacts and intrudes on those romantic relationships. So. If you are [00:30:00] experiencing relationship OCD I'm going to be talking about all of those things next month in four parts.
[00:30:06] Erin H. Davis: So we're going to be looking at topics like, Feeling afraid of losing your relationship. Or experiencing self doubt or doubts that you love your partner. Even though you've been together for 10 years. We'll also be talking about the moods and uncertainties that come up in your romantic relationships. As well as what to do and say, if you are a partner of someone who has. OCD.
[00:30:32] Erin H. Davis: We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.
[00:30:56] Erin H. Davis: Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to N O C D dot com to get evidence based treatment.
[00:31:04] Erin H. Davis: Okay. And that is all for today's episode. Thank you for being here. I hope to see you back next week as I talk about the relationship OCD. Remember you are not your thoughts. Keep thriving and I'll see you next time.
[00:31:21] Erin H. Davis: Thank you for listening to today's episode. This information is intended to be helpful and not a substitute for professional counseling. Before you go, kindly leave me a five star review and check out the links in the show notes to see the products that can make your small business dreams happen. Take care and see you next time.
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