What is OCD?

Written By Erin Davis

Welcome to the first episode of: Bossing Up: Overcoming OCD!

In this episode, Erin shares the signs & symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) like:
“What is OCD?”
“What are the 4 parts?”
“Is OCD constant?”

Erin talks about the signs & symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder like “What is OCD?” “What are the 4 parts?” and “Is OCD constant?”

(This show is intended to be a resource and not a substitute for professional counseling.)

Let's define the cycle, which includes intrusive thoughts, obsessions, compulsions, and temporary relief. Through real-life examples, the discussion covers OCD types, such as harm OCD and emetophobia, and introduces the four parts of the OCD cycle. Erin stresses the importance of seeking help from trained professionals and explores Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) as the gold standard treatment. She also mentions her therapy approach integrating mindfulness, acceptance, and facing uncertainty. The episode concludes with Erin encouraging listeners to reach out for professional help and promoting her upcoming private podcast focusing on the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, and nature.

This show is intended to be a resource and not a substitute for professional counseling.

  • Erin H. Davis: [00:00:00] Hey y'all, welcome to the show. So, in bossing up to OCD, we first need to identify what OCD is. OCD is the obsessive compulsive disorder and the OCD cycle starts with an intrusive thought. Okay, so we all experience about 6, 000 thoughts per day. Crazy, right? So, What it is with the intrusive thought. The intrusive thought is that involuntary thought that pops into your mind.

    It brings fear, worry, stress, disturbing images, you know what I mean. And once that intrusive thought happens, and it's running through your brain, it starts to stir up those obsessions. And once that intrusive thought happens, it starts to stir up those obsessions. You know the telltale sign of [00:01:00] OCD is when your Self talk is speaking in the phrase of what if.

    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.

    And with these what ifs, the obsessions, they're accompanied by an urge to do something to get stress relief. Okay, and naturally, our brain wants to protect us, keep us safe, and it wants to find a way to silence the fire alarm that is going off. And inevitably, the person with OCD, they engage in the compulsion, and that compulsion is the [00:02:00] behavior in which we do that is aimed at relieving the anxiety.

    And we know it's a compulsion because it is that behavior that brings the relief. And when we accomplish the relief, we are mistakenly tricked into thinking that We found our solution to calm the storm. And for this entire cycle to be on the scale of diagnosable or clinically significant, it has to create problems in your day to day life, so much so that it takes up at least more than an hour of time per day.

    And you may hear some people just kind of laugh it off and say, Oh, I'm so OCD. And let me tell you, the people who are truly sufferers of OCD, they're not laughing about it. [00:03:00] They're quite miserable. And a lot of times, like, their day to day looks just so fraught with fear. Some of these problems like it can range from repetitively erasing and rewriting your homework or maybe saying your prayers continuously until you get it right or you're late to work because you had to turn around and check that you didn't run over someone.

    I mean, how scary is that? And then Maybe it's failing to turn in your kid's application for free lunch because you can't scan the page perfectly without any shadows. And by the way, a lot of these experiences are real and they're true lived experiences of people that I've worked with. So, let me give you another example of an OCD cycle.

    One of which comes from emetophobia. [00:04:00] Alright, emetophobia, that is the fear of throwing up. And, of course, we all hate throwing up. Me included. But with emetophobia, it's on a whole nother level where they will do anything to stave off the idea or any type of inkling that they will vomit or throw up.

    Alright, so. With a student who is, let's say, afraid of throwing up, and they have this phobia of vomiting, they may see one of their classmates throw up in the library, and because their classmate threw up right there in the library and in that specific location, that student will do everything they can to avoid that spot in the library at all costs.

    It tricks the brain into thinking that they are in the safe zone. [00:05:00] Because what the brain has interpreted is that avoiding this spot keeps us safe. And so, you know, everything is calm for a minute until the obsession sprouts up again and finds another danger zone. Alright, now, moving on, there are four parts of the OCD cycle.

    And let me tell you what they are. First, we've got that intrusive thought. And again, the intrusive thought is that involuntary thought, the one that we're not trying to think about. It just comes up. It just happens. It pops into your head and causes anxiety. It causes distress. And we all experience involuntary thoughts.

    Some are random. But these intrusive type of thoughts, they're frightening. Okay, next we have the obsessions where we are in a continuous [00:06:00] loop of worry and we're trying to figure out a way to get out of this anxiety and we're contemplating and building up an urge to get a relief of the anxiety in some way.

    Part three is the compulsion. That is the behavior that our brain feels like this will stave off the catastrophic event. If I wash my hands enough, I will not get sick. If I don't go into that old building, I won't get cancer. So, those are the behaviors, even though with the avoidance you're not doing anything, you're still engaging in a avoidant type of behavior.

    You're still trying to find a way to act in a way that eliminates the catastrophic event or that scary thing from happening. Alright? And you know, maybe another form of a compulsion example [00:07:00] here is, like, if If I check that I didn't run over someone then that means that there could be someone laying in the street dying and I'm not helping them.

    And so, you'll find that OCD people, they're very kind, loving, caring, and they don't want anything bad to happen to anyone. Okay and then part four is relief. This is, again, just that lower level of anxiety where you've done the compulsion, whether that was avoidance or actively doing something and you feel a sense of relief.

    And we know that the relief is temporary. Because the compulsion does not effectively resolve the core issue. So, we know, and that, that's the troublesome part for an OCD sufferer. [00:08:00] We know that reasonably, there's no amount of times that you can wash your hands to 100 percent guarantee that you won't get sick.

    Again, I know that uncertainty is distressing and some people it really throws their fight or flight into just high alert., With that compulsion and the relief in the whole OCD cycle, your brain is not truly learning how to tolerate the discomfort or to challenge the distress and a lot of times let me tell you the OCD sufferer knows that their fears are irrational.

    Irrational meaning like not realistic they're just not plausible but they can't silence the fear right and it's a very scary and uncomfortable illness and you know honestly not something to laugh about or to be just lackadaisical [00:09:00] on What causes an OCD cycle to start? Okay, with OCD I mean it can be a variety of things that trigger it but it all starts with the intrusive thought.

    OCD, I like to think of it as a monster and a lot of times people will come up with their own version of their monster Whatever works for you. So OCD, that OCD monster, it likes to grab onto our vulnerabilities. It wants to capitalize on those weaknesses and it will find and grow and latch onto any area where you are susceptible.

    Alright. When we have a feeling that something awful may happen You know, it's very easy to get caught on that roller coaster and think that [00:10:00] it's true. From there, in therapy we talk about how just because we feel it, it doesn't mean it's dangerous. And I also like to teach my clients that we are not defined by our thoughts.

    You know, this is particularly helpful when someone has that subtype of harm OCD or sexual obsessions type of OCD because, again, these people are very loving and caring and compassionate. They don't want anything bad happening to themselves or anyone, especially their loved ones. Let's say you have the harm OCD and you are intensely afraid that you're going to accidentally hurt your child.

    That's a very scary thing to live with and a lot of times when people come into [00:11:00] therapy with fears or thoughts or feelings such as this, they haven't shared it with anyone. They are in a silent struggle. It's a very freeing and liberating experience when we can talk about it, boss up to it, and overcome and manage these fears.

    And I again circle back to the idea we are not defined by our thoughts. We are defined by our behaviors and actions. And as a Christian, I always love to think on the idea too, that God knows our hearts. And God knows that you don't want to do X, Y, and Z. Right? If you're that OCD sufferer. Alright. And with the OCD cycle, is it constant?

    Sometimes. It really depends on the person. Oftentimes when someone reaches the [00:12:00] point of coming to therapy, they are in the pits. I mean they are really wrestling with these obsessive thoughts that are constant. Now when it's constant that kind of means like it to them it feels like their entire day or thought process is kind of centered around their worry.

    They feel overwhelmed more times than not and they are just consumed and flooded with the worry about that bad thing happening. By the time that my OCD patients successfully complete treatment, the intensity of these thoughts or the frequency of this cycle has significantly gone down and decreased and everything feels a lot more manageable and then they can easily recognize Oh, [00:13:00] that's just my OCD talking In transitioning to this idea of ways to break OCD and boss up to it First of all, we have to be willing to seek help and when I say seek help, I mean with a trained professional who knows how to successfully treat OCD.

    Because OCD is a lot more complicated than just your general anxiety. You really need to see someone who has that training and experience with Exposure and Response Prevention or ERP. ERP is that gold standard form of treatment that we use

    And with ERP, I'll go into that in more details in other episodes but for today's purposes know that with exposure and response prevention, [00:14:00] it is administered and given and practiced in intervals and segments and exercises that are like Small steps to the bigger goal. So, I explain it like, we will work on your fears in ways that will help you feel successful and accomplished.

    And again, go to someone who has the experience and training and knowledge with OCD specifically. This is not really something that you can just Wing or throw some darts in outer space and hope it lands like it's very specific. And it's important to seek that trained professional because you don't want to have any regression or to make things worse.

    And with OCD, it is a very tricky condition [00:15:00] to address. So. Other things in therapy along with the ERP that happens in bossing up to OCD includes like mindfulness, practicing acceptance, being in the here and now, and I know this sounds a little rough, but it's learning to tolerate the suffering, learning to be able to face uncertainty.

    So. With the OCD treatment, long story short, you will move from living in the what ifs to the what is. So, I hope you enjoyed this episode, and this was really fun, I love sharing the information about OCD, it is my bread and butter when it comes to therapy. If you're a wife, mom, sister, and you're [00:16:00] struggling with OCD, head to my website at www.

    ValueDrivenTherapy. com and click book a consult. I'm a therapist in the state of North Carolina, so if you're local, I would love to meet you on the trails for a walk and talk. And I'm also starting a private podcast, which will be in the show notes for you. I am playing up on the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, and nature.

    With the walk and talk therapy and those episodes, I'm bringing in some mindfulness and meditation. So some of them will be on the trails, some of them you can do while you're trying to relax at home, or maybe you're in your car on your lunch break and you just need a minute. I'll put that link in the show notes, and I also want to shout out to the business products that are helping my small business dreams happen, like American Express.

    If you use my link, you can earn up to 500 cash back on any card application. I [00:17:00] also love Rakuten, and that is the opportunity to get some cash back. Up to 30 cash back. It's nuts on all those stores that you already shop at like Walmart, Tractor Supply, Under Armour. There's so many shops on there. So spend 30, you get 30 back your first time.

    And with my links. It doesn't cost you any extra, and at the end of the day, you get a discount, so. Alright y'all, well thanks so much. See you next time. Thank you for listening to today's episode. I hope you found that helpful, and check out the show notes to find other ways to stay connected. Before you go, kindly leave me a 5 star review, and that would mean the world to me.

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Erin Davis

I help women in North Carolina and Virginia break free from the grip of OCD to find lasting peace and balance. As a therapist specializing in obsessive-compulsive disorder, I understand how the distress from unwanted thoughts can spiral into overwhelming anxiety and even panic attacks. My compassionate, personalized approach empowers you to regain control using proven strategies so you feel more confident and in control. Together, we’ll work toward the calm, empowered life you deserve.

https://valuedriventherapy.com
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