Harm OCD S1 C9: Is there a miracle cure?

               I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but sadly, there is no miracle cure for OCD. I am certain you know that by now though. People often get into extensive research, watching videos, reading blogs and books, listening to podcasts, trying supplements, trying various psychiatrists and psychotherapists, trying various medicines (self-medication at that), alternative healing methods like Ashwagandha, St John’s Worts, Psilocybin or other types of therapeutic interventions such as hypnotherapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or even electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, also called shock treatment) – to find a miracle cure for OCD.

               People self-medicate. On social media forums they ask for names, dosages and other information about medicines that have helped others so that they can take the same. This is not only unhelpful but also dangerous. Unhelpful because the people they talk to are other sufferers and not experts; dangerous because people calibrate the dosage, start and stop medicines as per their whims, and are generally non-compliant. At the whisper of a side effect, they would want to alter the dosage or drop one pill or add another. They do not consider their doctors knowledgeable enough to help them, and end up doing what they think is right. They will do everything except what has a good chance of working to help them manage their OCD, which is ERP.

               This is understandable because ERP is the most difficult method to treat Harm OCD. But whether you like it or not, it is also the most effective. There is really no miracle cure. No amount of reading blogs and books, watching videos and listening to podcasts will help unless you decide to take the recommended action. That is like trying to learn swimming by doing everything but jumping into the pool. It won’t help. You will have to jump into the pool. You will have to tolerate the fear of drowning. You are allowed to seek help to learn. You are allowed to even use floats until you are ready to swim on your own. But jumping into the pool is a must. Similarly, jumping into ERP is a must to learn how to manage your Harm OCD. All said, ERP is still the best form of treatment for Harm OCD. That is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.