Is Exposure & Response Prevention Therapy a Well-Guarded Secret?

OCD Awareness Week 2018 has come and gone and there were many successful, informative events to help all those whose lives have been touched by obsessive-compulsive disorder. There was also attention paid to OCD through the national media, though I’m not sure if the two shows I watched/listened to were broadcasted because of OCD Awareness Week.
While I think the productions both did a good job debunking the myths of OCD and illustrating what the disorder is all about (as much as you can without actually having OCD), I believe they were sorely lacking in one extremely important area — treatment.
The first show was a podcast sponsored by American Public Media. Six people with OCD recorded their thoughts and feelings throughout the course of a day, giving the listener an idea of how OCD operates. I think it was a great idea. But I kept waiting for the host of the program — or anyone — to inform us that, if you have OCD, you do not have to be controlled by it — it is treatable. While I realize that treatment was not the focus of the podcast, I also believe that not saying anything about recovery leads people to believe “that’s the way it is,” and there is no treatment for the disorder.
I wasn’t asking for a lot. One sentence saying, “OCD is very treatable,” would have satisfied me. But there was nothing. NOTHING! I think one of the six people with OCD might have used the word “Prozac” once in passing b...

Source: World of Psychology - October 23, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Books Minding the Media OCD Personal Psychology Psychotherapy Stigma Treatment Source Type: blogs