What causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

It does not matter who or what is responsible for getting you to where you are. What matters is who is going to be responsible for getting you out of there.

For your scientific reading pleasure:
"Differential susceptibility in youth: evidence that
5-HTTLPR x positive parenting is associated

[TheHaiku]

Mark, two and a half years ago I began struggling with OCD. It was to the point where everyday, the first thought I was having was what new terrifying obsession am I going to have today. It was a nightmare! Shortly after, I found your videos, and they really got me started in the right direction, but I was reluctant to start a real CBT/ERP treatment program, and of course I kept struggling in my usual moderate way, until I had a major anxiety attack. Well, ironically, that helped me get up the courage to seek out a program, and I'm happy to say that, two weeks in, I've had a big reduction in symptoms, and every day, I look forward to practice. So, it's important to me, that I thank you, for being an inspiration to me, and many others I'm sure. Thank you, Mark!  

[everybodyhasabrain]

If you feed your OCD, it'll grow and grow. Look at that urge to walk back as something you have a choice in. If you choose to walk back, you choose to grow your OCD. If you choose to not walk back, you choose to shrink your OCD. Not going back to check at first will cause incredible amounts of anxiety, so definitely work with a professional experienced in OCD recovery. I used to have to walk back to check things, too, but not anymore. This is treatable. All the best with this!

[ash_tray_]

“It does not matter how you got to where you are, all that matters is how you’re gonna get out of here” :)

[everybodyhasabrain]

I struggled with addiction, too, and the process of recovery is really the same whether you're addicted to a substance to relieve anxiety or you're addicted to an action to relieve anxiety. What's happening in the brain is very similar. The brain doesn't care where it gets its dopamine. If you visit an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, you'll probably hear way more about anxiety and uncertainty than you will about alcohol. Compulsions are compulsions regardless of the out-dated labels stuck on them.

[everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks! :) For the sake of not giving reassurance, I can't give you certainty, of course. Recovering from OCD doesn't require any particular belief in recovery--it requires action. Accept whatever your brain wants to think about recovery, but cut out compulsions and engage in healthy activities anyway. Recovery isn't something you have to believe, it's something you have to DO.

[everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks! It's a tricky line to walk because, on one hand, it's helpful to see what the roots of the OCD are so you can learn to accept them, but if you're choosing to chase certainty about something in the past, then it quickly becomes just another compulsion. We can only do healthy things in the present. Our brains can only change today. So regardless of what got us to where we are, all that matters now is what's going to get us out of there.

[oidodsonidosonido]

i love you bro no hommo lol you have become my best friend and dont even know it thanks for what you do. you are helping alot of people. your words are exactly what i have been searching for for years answers and im fanally getting them. thanks alot bro

[everybodyhasabrain]

Yes. Both are very common symptoms. If you're compulsively trying to cope with, check on, or control an uncertainty, regardless of what that uncertainty is, you're in mentally unhealthy territory.

[justinbowman]

This Guy Needs To Be On TV, This Guy Deserves Millions !

[davem]

FINALLY !! SOMEONE WHO LOOKS AT LIFE the CORRECT WAY !! BRAVO !! I LOVE the PRACTICAL APPROACH !! MOST "DOCTORS" can't wipe their asses correctly and MANY MANY out there start out with a good intention and THEN get CORRUPED by the "system"...in the MEAN TIME we need dudes like YOU that focus on the PRACTICAL !! THANK YOU !!

[ryantan]

My anxiety become higher when I have nothing to do, or when I have a lot of free time. My imagination will seem to go wild and I my OCD seem to become more serious. Is it a must to keep myself busy to prevent relapse?

[FernandoVazquez-ronw]

For me it is important to know, not because I want to blame it on something/someone else but because I think that if I understand its roots (which you address in another video beautifully) then I can approach my recovery in a more objective way. I think that it is great advice to not obsess about he cause and focus on the solution - but educating patients and family about the possible causes might help cope with the problem, don't you think?

[everybodyhasabrain]

Sorry to hear you haven't been able to access the help you need, Amir. There are a bunch of things you can do that don't cost as much as therapy. Finding a peer support group for people recovering from OCD is one option. Since you understand English, you can also access many self-help books by successful therapists. I'd recommend books on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy or Exposure & Response Prevention. Learning to accept the thoughts and not react to them helps tremendously.

[berryfairy]

Cute, smart talking Canadian....love it :)

[SiameseCatsever]

Now the harm one is about doing harm to my cats like twisting their necks. I reinforced unconsciously this by making a "theater" like putting my hands close to their necks and see if actually anything would happen, but of course it didn't. Instead of bringing me tranquility this brought me more anxiety! And now it has moved to self harm ocd. The other I had this thought/impulse of sticking my finger inside a fan (I didn´t) throw myself from a high floor and such ... continue..

[unknown-okdx]

Well in my case ocd runs in my family my father had ocd like in his late 20s although he recovered from it in 5 years my grand father also had this condition in his late 20s or adult hood he also recovered from it I was diagnosed with ocd in my early 20s means at the age of 18 years and I am also almost recovered

[everybodyhasabrain]

It's rough but engaging in compulsions like "theatre", which you'll often see online or in OCD literature referred to as "testing", helps us see what you've now learned: IT ONLY MAKES YOU FEEL WORSE. It's just a compulsion you'll want to cut out. Anything you do to try to cope with, check on, or control uncertainty will only create new uncertainties and more anxiety.

[everybodyhasabrain]

The tools used in effective therapies like Exposure & Response Prevention or Acceptance & Commitment Therapy are useful for being proactive tackling OCD. There's lots of research behind what we can do to maintain our mental health and get done the the things in life we want to get done. So the tools are already available for experiencing long-term recovery. But I think we need to focus more on making those tools accessible and giving people the holistic supports they need to succeed with them.

[everybodyhasabrain]

That's one of the reasons to eliminate these types of compulsions--you're just going to create situations that make you doubt yourself even more. OCD often involves us choosing to do things that create "reasons" to be even more anxious. Cutting out this testing compulsion will help to reduce the frequency of these situations.

[everybodyhasabrain]

Yup, it's a very common compulsion and the more you do it, the more anxiety you will experience and the more fears you'll have and the more intense they'll get. The most effective forms of therapy focus on cutting out compulsions. Trying something like Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) or Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help tremendously.