Other Treatment Options for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

If traditional therapy methods along with medication do not work to help an OCD suffer, it may be necessary to use alternative forms of treatment to help an individual through their issues.

Saturation or Thought Stopping: This method of therapy encourages an individual to think one obsessive thought they have complained about over and over for a certain period of time and for a certain number of days. Studies show that when a person does nothing except concentrate on one particular thought that scares them, after an allotted period of time the fear will lose its strength.

Neurosurgical Treatment: This type of treatment only applies to a small group of OCD sufferers when they do not respond to any type of treatment and when their symptoms are severe. Options available are bilateral cingulotomy, which is when the pathway in the brain responsible for OCD symptoms is interrupted and stereotactic radio surgery, which uses a Gamma knife (unobtrusive tool) to focus radiation beams on the area of the brain responsible for OCD symptoms.