We see OCD every day: on TV, on social media, in friends and family, or even ourselves. What we don’t see every day is exactly what to do when OCD shows up. OCD is a condition in which intrusive thoughts become sticky and distressing, and people feel driven to use compulsions to relieve that anxiety. When it comes to treating these thought loops, reliable information can be surprisingly hard to find.In parts one and two, we went over myths about what OCD is and how it works. Understanding what OCD does is an important first step in treatment, so you’ve already taken a big step. Let’s break down some more myths, this time all about OCD treatment.

OCD MYTHS:

OCD is untreatable

OCD is very treatable! Prior to the 1960s, OCD was broadly considered very difficult or impossible to treat. This doesn’t mean that it truly couldn’t be treated, it just means that we hadn’t found the right tools for it yet. Fortunately, interventions such as medication and exposure and response prevention therapy (the “gold standard” for OCD treatment) have been found to be highly effective. Today, many people with OCD are able to use these tools to live lives largely free from the impact of OCD. Although this belief still lingers, it hasn’t been true for decades.

Avoiding triggers and performing compulsions helps OCD

It’s natural to want to soothe anxiety with compulsions and avoid situations that are known to cause distressing thoughts. These coping mechanisms are often the only ones that have offered folks with OCD temporary relief in the past. As helpful as it may feel on the surface, though, compulsions tell the brain “hey, this thought must be important enough to pay attention to, so we need to think about it more.” This can trap those with OCD in a cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsions feeding into one another.

Medication can’t help my OCD

Medication can be a very helpful and powerful tool in OCD treatment, especially when used alongside therapy. However, medication can work differently when it comes to OCD. The dose of a medication required to be effective, as well as the amount of time it takes to see its effect, may differ in the treatment of OCD when compared to the same medication for other uses, like anxiety and depression. If you feel your medication isn’t working well, it’s important to talk with your prescriber about OCD and your treatment goals to ensure that you can work together to receive safe and effective medication management.

All talk therapy is helpful/harmful for OCD

Talk therapy can help OCD, but not all approaches are effective. Therapy that focuses heavily on challenging intrusive thoughts, reasoning through them, and receiving reassurance can unintentionally reinforce compulsive rumination and reassurance seeking. However, other forms of talk therapy that focus on aligning with your values and trusting your senses, such as ACT and I-CBT, have shown to be very helpful for OCD. Talk therapy is not all good or all bad when it comes to OCD. An OCD therapist can tailor therapy to your specific needs to ensure that therapy is helping you reach your goals.

Exposure therapy alone is how OCD is treated

A common misconception about OCD therapy is that it is typically treated with exposure therapy alone. This is close, but not quite how OCD therapy usually goes. OCD therapy does often involve exposures to triggers. But, this is only half the picture. The other piece of “ERP” (Exposure and Response Prevention therapy) is the response prevention, in which someone would be exposed to a trigger while also not performing compulsions. Exposures are a helpful tool, but because compulsions feed into the OCD cycle, doing exposures without stopping compulsions can feel like taking one step forward and one step back. Response prevention is a key part of ERP.

ERP is cruel, overwhelming, and traumatizing

ERP should never be traumatizing. ERP acts as a way for the brain to learn that intrusive thoughts are not inherently meaningful or dangerous, and that safety can be present even when thoughts are anxiety-provoking. In order for this learning to take place, ERP is often uncomfortable, but it should not be overly distressing or forced. An OCD therapist can work with youto decide together on exposures, monitor distress levels, and ensure that ERP does not cause overwhelming levels of distress. After all, the point of ERP is to help the brain relearn to accept safety. Trying to relearn how to accept safety in the middle of something traumatic wouldn’t work very well!

ERP is the only way to treat OCD

ERP is not the only way to treat OCD. Although ERP is the “gold standard” OCD psychotherapy that has the most evidence behind it, it is far from the only one! Everyone is on their own unique journey, and ERP isn’t the right fit for every person. There are several other effective ways to treat OCD, and some don’t place a strong emphasis on exposures at all.

I always have to accept uncertainty to make my obsessions less sticky

Tolerance of uncertainty can be a vital part of OCD recovery, but it doesn’t look the same in every situation. With many obsessions, there is genuine uncertainty. For example, there is always some level of uncertainty about whether you will get sick from touching a doorknob, get into an accident while driving, or how your future might unfold. In these cases, OCD treatment often focuses on making room for this uncertainty rather than eliminating it. With other obsessions, especially those related to identity, values, and feelings, you may doubt information about yourself. In these cases, treatment may focus more on trusting your ability to live in line with your values without the need for excessive self-monitoring.In both cases, the goal is not to “solve” the intrusive thought, but to change your relationship to it.

My obsessions are too weird or taboo to talk with a therapist about

OCD tends to latch onto the things that scare us the most, which are often the things you least want to talk about. Having OCD that centers around themes like harm or sex can feel very isolating when most OCD representation focuses on other OCD themes. Although it can feel like you’re the only one with these obsessions, these are actually some of the most common obsessions! A knowledgeable OCD therapist will be very understanding and familiar with this, and will know that these thoughts are scary and not what you want or who you are.

When compulsions provide the only temporary relief from obsessions that you know, breaking out of the OCD can feel overwhelming and confusing. But it is very possible. Across this series, we’ve looked at what OCD is, how it works, and how it’s treated. Knowing this isn’t just informational, it’s an incredibly powerful first tool that can help you recognize OCD and respond differently.With the right tools and support, people with OCD can live enriching lives no longer shaped by intrusive thoughts and compulsions.

If you’re recognizing signs of OCD in yourself or someone you care about, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Support from a trained professional can make a meaningful difference in understanding symptoms and building healthier coping strategies. The team at Valid Love Therapy Collective offers compassionate, informed care tailored to your needs. You can reach out and take the next step toward support by visiting our contact page: https://www.validlove.com/contact.

Understanding OCD: Breaking Down the Myths Part 3: How it’s Treated