Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is often thought to be a disease in and of itself. However, to better understand how to overcome OCD naturally, it is essential to recognize the disorder as a sub-type of anxiety. Moreover, there is an Obsessive Compulsive personality-type, which is related, but not severe enough to be considered a disorder. Since this is a cognitive disease, one must fully understand it to overcome it without medication.
As mentioned, OCD is an off-shoot of anxiety. Everyone has a normal flight or fight response to fear, but with anxiety, the sense of fear is heightened to a point out of proportion to the actual danger. With OCD, this out of proportion since of danger is countered by a need for prevention, rather than fight or flight. The person with OCD will obsess about a possible danger, thought, or other scenario, and begins to create rituals which they believe will ward off the danger.
The rituals can comprise of actions, like washing your hands over and over, or even thoughts and urges. These thoughts and urges can also be aimed at oneself, such as obsessing over a particular body part that seems flawed somehow. Regardless, the person performs the ritual to prevent a danger.
OCD is a cognitive disease, meaning it exists within the mind; therefore, the importance of understanding the disease cannot be overstated. Once you understand the disease, you begin to change the way you look at it, and thus handle it differently. Fear is not a bad thing if you can learn to control how you respond to it.
Instead of focusing on the lock, maybe open the door and yell “come in!” It may sound bizarre, but realizing that you are not stuck in either the flight or fight response may help. Often looking at the trigger as a challenge, instead of focusing on the rituals as a disorder is a great place to start in overcoming OCD. The idea is to prove to your mind, since this a cognitive disorder, that nothing bad will happen if you do not perform the ritual.
Some case studies show that exposure and response prevention is key in how to overcome OCD naturally. Recognizing the disorder as a type of anxiety, and thus a product of fear, is the first step to success. Get all the knowledge you can about OCD, and you are well on your way to beating it.
