OCD

ADHD

Although all the causes of ADHD are unknown, current research shows that ADHD tends to run in families and that genetics do play a role

With OCD, you have thoughts or compulsions  that upset you and cause distress. You might try to ignore them or push them out of your mind, but this is generally difficult or impossible. Even if you do stop thinking about them for a while, they usually keep coming back. If you live with OCD, you might have a range of different symptoms. Your symptoms might come mostly from one group or more than one group. 

• Cleaning and contamination 
• Symmetry and ordering 
• Forbidden thoughts
• Hoarding 

If you think you or a loved one have OCD symptoms, talk to a mental healthcare provider. They can diagnose OCD and work with you to find the most effective type of treatment. A mental healthcare provider will ask you about the types of symptoms you experience, whether they cause distress, and how much time they take up each day. Diagnosis of OCD generally requires that symptoms affect your daily function and consume at least an hour of your day. Your mental healthcare provider will likely note the group of symptoms you experience, since not all OCD treatments have the same benefits for all symptoms. They’ll also explore if you have tics or other behavioral symptoms and discuss the level of insight or beliefs you have surrounding the obsessions and compulsions you experience. In other words, they’ll want to know whether you feel OCD-related beliefs are likely to happen, might happen, or definitely won’t happen. Your provider will also ask how long you’ve had symptoms. Results of a 2009 study suggest OCD symptoms that begin in childhood are often more severe. 

MHPs generally consider therapy & medication, or a combination of the two, to have the most benefit in the treatment of OCD.

Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is generally the recommended approach. This type of treatment gradually exposes you to subjects of your obsessions or things that cause compulsions. In the safe space of therapy, you can learn how to deal with the discomfort you experience without acting out compulsions.

You’ll probably also spend some time practicing these skills at home or in other environments outside of therapy. If you have severe OCD symptoms, or if your symptoms don’t seem to respond to therapy alone, your mental healthcare provider may recommend talking to a psychiatrist about medication. You might take medication just for a short time while you learn how to cope with symptoms in therapy. Drugs that can have benefit for OCD symptoms include antidepressants such as Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) or anti-psychotics. 

The most helpful treatment for OCD can sometimes depend on your symptoms. One 2008 review looked at existing studies on how OCD symptoms respond to different types of treatment. Researchers found evidence to suggest some symptom sub-types, such as cleaning and contamination symptoms, may not respond as well to SSRIs. The same study also suggests ERP therapy may not as effective for obsessive thoughts. Different CBT approaches, such as mindfulness-based CBT, may have more benefit. 

However, research results can vary. Two people won’t always respond to treatment in the same way, even if they have very similar symptoms. Deep brain stimulation is a new type of treatment that may help improve symptoms of OCD in people who don’t see improvement with other treatments. 

This treatment hasn’t yet been fully researched, however. It may pose some health risks. If you’re interested in deep brain stimulation, your primary care doctor or mental healthcare provider may be able to provide more information.

Maybe not. As of now, there isn’t any sureshot way to prevent or to cure ADHD. But good treatment and medication can help manage the symptoms