i don't know if there is a "cure". But I can relate to the alienation and no one understanding. Just today my parents were telling me about the son of a friend of theirs and how much he and I have in common. We both have our specific rituals with food, cooking, eating, cleaning, basically having to have everyting "our way" and they were actually finding humor in it and joking about it. I just said, "so he suffers too"? They both just looked at me completely dumbfounded. Then when I questioned if he had OCD too they just laughed and said, "yeah he might". They were oblivious.

I have also wished and prayed for a cure. I haven't been cured yet, and I don't know anyone who has been cured. My Pdocs and therapists over the years have played down the idea of a cure. They have instead asked me to focus on improvement. I'm thinking cures are rare.

I read in a book somewhere that they are actually developing a surgery that can literally cure severe OCD. It's still in the early stages of development, but that's amazing to me. I know how you feel though...even good days it seems like I just wait for something to trigger an OCD relapse. I guess knowing that I'm not alone helps...that there are people out there who share my struggles. Otherwise the most helpful thing is just trying to keep a positive attitude and enjoy the good days when they come. Something my therapist told me is that even people who don't struggle with OCD have good days and bad days. It's just a part of being human. We have to work on living in the present moment and allowing ourselves to be happy on the days where OCD isn't eating away at us.

Before I was diagnosed with OCD, my friends and family couldn't figure me out. I felt so alienated from them, like they all thought I was doing things for attention or something. I felt like they were all hoping it was just a phase and I'd eventually get over it. It was really painful. When I was finally diagnosed, I told my best friends and they all said "Wow. That makes so much sense. It seems like you've been hurting for so long." They've been nothing but supportive.

One thing that really bothers me is that people will casually throw around the term "OCD" like it's a personality trait. I actually find it pretty offensive. Being a clean freak doesn't mean you have OCD. Being a perfectionist doesn't mean you have OCD.I have OCD and I don't care if my room looks like a tornado hit it. OCD is a debilitating illness that literally stops you from being able to get through your day. When my friends and family came to understand that, things got so much better. Maybe it would help you to talk to your friends and family about it and explain that OCD is an actual neurological disorder, not something people invented to explain their personalities.

I hope some of that helped. I know that this can be such a difficult time. Good luck!

Hello. :)
I had OCD from age 7 until 18. I was diagnosed properly at 14, and then also diagnosed with a range of other stuff (social/separation anxiety, major depressive disorder, probias, etc). At 18 (two years ago), I pretty much had a breakdown after a really tough time in my life. I was put on medication for the first time (Pristiq), and after a couple weeks, I realised I didn't need to do all the things I used to do. It was AMAZING.
I know I was lucky to find the perfect medication for me first time - many people don't.
2 years on, I have only experienced a couple episodes of mild symptoms that last about 10 minutes when I'm really stress. And that's only 2 or 3 times.
So, fingers crossed, I can keep going like this. I would assume that I will have to be on these meds for the rest of my life though.
Message me if you like!

depends my physcologest says it is possible to retrain your brain to fix it. that along with anti depressants to get rid of the anxiety. i think the anti depressants do get rid of the anxiety but ive been expiercing repated suicidal thoughts dunno if thats ocd or depression. your totally write its like u need 2 just keep thinking positive. i find it hardwork all the time. appreciate all of your comments thank u so much x

Sarah, that is awesome that you got so much better with a medication:) I'm going to do some research on Pristiq. Everyone had really interesting replies. This is an excellent discussion.

I've thought about it, and I think an important thing in treating OCD is finding out what the cause is.

I did therapy for YEARS and I just found any compulsions I got control of, would be replaced very quickly with something else.

As I said before, the medication worked very quickly and I suddenly woke up without having to count and order and repeat things.

It's clear to me now that my OCD was probably entirely due to the imbalance of serotonin in my brain. This is why the meds worked so well and completely.

For those who have OCD caused by their own life circumstances (stress, other disorders, etc), medication won't have the same effect in terms of "curing" it. This is more when therapy is good - you need to find a GOOD psychologist, and you may need to try different things until you find what works for you. I found CBT to be most effective.

The first step is working out the probably cause, and then working on fixing it as best you can.

Thoughts?

yea totally agree find the rootof where the behaviour started relise why youve adopted that behaviour in the first place then see if you can come up with a better 1. first step is aknoledging pardon the spelling what triggers thought n pattern of behaviour. retraing your brain is like putting a different contact lense in you view the world different. weither or not u can be bothered changing is another thing. its hard work at times and not always straight forward u learn as u go along x

There is no cure. There are meds we can take to control the symptoms and many of us go through quite a few different medications to find the right one. CBT has some positive outcomes for some people but fails dreadfully for others. A combination of meds and therapy in a perfect world would allow us to control our symptoms as they ebb and flow like ocean tides.
Deep brain stimulation is still in it's infancy and is far too dangerous to become mainstream for most with OCD. Brain surgery isn't a walk in the park whatever you call it.
Controlling your symptoms is the main idea when it comes to mental illness.

I think it's possible. I developed OCD at a very young age and have suffered from many, many different kinds including intrusive thoughts, a severe eating disorder (binging and purging), not touching anything with bare hands... and that's barely the tip of the iceburg. My family were not at all supportive and my mother would watch me like a hawke to make sure I was acting 'normally', and would often say mean things like calling me a 'pig' for binging. I was very much alone and tried to hide my compulsions, not knowing, back then, that my problems had a name. I really don't know when or how, but almost all of these have gone away (except purging - I can remember the day I stopped that - I just didn't let myself). I still have some things, like shadows of OCD (e.g. coins - ugh), but mostly I can recognize a trigger or when I am beginning to become obsessive, and I keep it in check. I am now almost 40 and still consider myself prone to OCD, just like someone might be an alcoholic but has stopped drinking; but, from my experience, it's possible, and while I'd like to tell you how, I honestly don't know, just that it is, and I know it is. There's a book called 'The Brain that Changes Itself'' by Norman Doidge, which explains how the brain can modify and heal itself. In it he talks about the normal path of impulse, action, satisfaction in the brain that most people have, but those with OCD are on a loop instead, so they skip the satisfaction part and go back to impulse. It's so worth reading, if only to know that you can re-introduce 'satsfaction' and get off the loop. Hope this helps.

I think everyone has something that they struggle with, whether it be ocd or anything else- and if I fight that I have it I become frustrated and upset, but if I embrace it as a part of me and that it makes me have more compassion for others who have disorders, then it is not so bad. I feel like the times when I am more accepting of it I am more proactive in trying to control and deal with it- vs, the other times when it takes over and kind of overwhelms me...

It's nice to see all the positive thoughts on a cure for OCD. I just wish they could come true, but a cure for OCD, like a cure for any mental illness is far in the future.
Controlling your symptoms the best that you can what you are shooting for. If there was a cure we would not need this website.

apparantly the are doing experiments with rats and its something to do with finding out the bit of the brain that controls anxiety probably wont happen for a long time. your right we have to just control the symptoms. i find it frustrating at times because sometimes theres no need for the anxiety. just to have to make the best of it i suppose. all the best guys x

So true Miller! I'm 54 and have been battling OCD since I was a kid. Sometimes the anxiety just pops up and you have to use whatever defence mechanisms you have to get through the present moment.