Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Blogs This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

7 Essentials for Parents of Kids with OCD
Looking back to what I now know suggests that my 3 1/2 year old son’s long lasting temper tantrums may have been an indication that something was up. I just didn’t know what it was and wasn’t sure how to become better informed. All I remember is that it seemed like it was his way or the highway. He eventually grew out of those temper tantrums by the time he started pre-school. When Jeff was in elementary school, he would erase numbers and letters until they looked “just right!” At night I would spend a few minutes with each of my sons saying good night. When it was his turn, we would talk and then say good night...
Source: World of Psychology - August 22, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Annabella Hagen, LCSW, RPT-S Tags: Children and Teens OCD Parenting Personal Academic Performance anxiety Childhood Disorders childhood obsessive compulsive disorder Compulsions Obsessions Panic Attacks Rituals Worry Source Type: blogs

Internet Therapy for Children with OCD
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is condition that affects about 2.2 million Americans and 750,000 people in the UK. It has two key features: thoughts that repeat themselves over and over again (called obsessive thoughts) and feeling that the person must do certain actions repeatedly (compulsions). The person thinks the thoughts are silly, but they cannot stop them. Sometimes only carrying out the actions stops the thoughts for a while. The typical example is thinking that your hands are dirty, even though you know they are not, and having to wash them repeatedly. The person can spend a huge chunk of the day carrying o...
Source: World of Psychology - August 20, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dr. Andrés Fonseca Tags: Anxiety and Panic Children and Teens OCD Psychotherapy Students Technology Treatment Child Development childhood OCD Compulsions internet therapy Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Smartphone Source Type: blogs

OCD and Sleep Timing
I’ve been writing about obsessive-compulsive disorder for about ten years now, and my most-read posts, by far, are those that discuss sleep and sleep deprivation. OCD, by its very nature, is unconducive to a good night’s sleep. How can you sleep when you have to continually check to make sure the door is locked or the stove is off? How can you relax when you need to review your entire day in your head to make sure you didn’t do anything wrong? How can you breathe easily when you find yourself ruminating on, of all things, not being able to sleep? Really, as anybody with OCD most likely knows, the possibilities are en...
Source: World of Psychology - August 16, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Habits OCD Psychotherapy Research Sleep Circadian Rhythm Compulsions Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Rest Sleep Disorder Source Type: blogs

More intelligent people are quicker to learn (and unlearn) social stereotypes
By Emma Young Smart people tend to perform better at work, earn more money, be physically healthier, and be less likely to subscribe to authoritarian beliefs. But a new paper reveals that a key aspect of intelligence – a strong “pattern-matching” ability, which helps someone readily learn a language, understand how another person is feeling or spot a stock market trend to exploit – has a darker side: it also makes that person more likely to learn and apply social stereotypes. Previous studies exploring how a person’s cognitive abilities may affect their attitudes to other people have produced mixed result...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - August 16, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Intelligence Race Social Source Type: blogs

Educating Teacher and Students about OCD
As many of us are well aware, obsessive-compulsive disorder is an often misunderstood disorder. Though I do believe progress is being made (albeit slowly) there is still such a lack of understanding surrounding OCD. Most upsetting to me is when I come across professionals such as doctors, social workers, therapists, and teachers who have little to no knowledge of what OCD entails. Imagine this scenario: After a teacher admonishes a student for continuously “playing” with her pencils, markers, and other items on her desk, the eight-year-old girl musters the courage to confide in the teacher that she fears she might seri...
Source: World of Psychology - August 13, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Children and Teens College OCD Psychology Psychotherapy Students Success & Achievement Academic Success Adolescence Compulsions Education Learning Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder teachers Source Type: blogs

Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement + 9 More Pairs of Psych Terms You ’re Getting Confused
By Christian Jarrett There are a lot of pairs of terms in psychology that sound as if they refer to the same thing, and can therefore be used interchangeably, when in fact they refer to different concepts that are distinct in important ways. As Emory University professor Scott Lilienfeld and his colleagues point out in their new open-access paper in Frontiers in Education, even experienced psychologists and science communicators sometimes confuse these pairs of terms, which inevitably impedes their understanding of the underlying concepts. Their new paper outlines 50 “frequently confused term pairs in psychology̶...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - August 8, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Feature Source Type: blogs

Is It Anxiety or OCD?
Anxiety can mean many different things to many different people. When handled in the correct way, a little bit of anxiety is usually helpful. It warns us to be careful if we sense danger. It can remind us of consequences we once had to live with. By maintaining some anxiety around these issues, we are able to avoid unwanted outcomes. Obsessive compulsive disorder stems from a healthy type of anxiety and morphs into something all-consuming. OCD is a psychiatric disorder that involves repeated and unwanted intrusive thoughts, feelings, ideas, and behaviors that must be done over and over again. While checking to make sure t...
Source: World of Psychology - July 23, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Rebecca Lee Tags: Anxiety and Panic OCD Psychology Psychotherapy Anxious Thoughts Avoidance Compulsions Obsessions ritualistic behavior Rituals Worry Source Type: blogs

Pediatric OCD and Its Effects on Family
A study published in the March 17, 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry concludes that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder negatively affects not only the children who suffer from it, but also their parents. At the risk of sounding snarky, anyone who has a child with OCD could’ve told you that. Still, well-conducted studies, as opposed to anecdotal evidence, are important. If nothing else, they give clinicians and researchers concrete information to reference, study and build upon in their quest to understand OCD and how to best help those whose lives are affected ...
Source: World of Psychology - July 22, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Caregivers Children and Teens Family Mental Health and Wellness OCD Parenting Psychology Research Anxious child caregiving Compulsions family support Family therapy Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder pediatric OCD Source Type: blogs

Brain Inflammation and OCD
A very interesting study was recently published in JAMA Psychiatry stating that brain inflammation in those with obsessive-compulsive disorder is significantly elevated (by more than 30 percent) compared to those without the disorder. Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, senior author of the study and Head of the Neuroimaging Program in Mood & Anxiety at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, says:1 “Our research showed a strong relationship between brain inflammation and OCD, particularly in the parts of the brain known to function differently in OCD,”….....
Source: World of Psychology - July 20, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Memory and Perception OCD Research autoimmune response brain inflammation Cognitive Neuroscience Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Source Type: blogs

Swiping for Therapists
Over inThe New York Times, Melissa Miller has an article titled "How to Find the Right Therapist."Miller compares it to dating, and she makes the very valid point that good chemistry helps, it's really nice to like and respect your psychotherapist, and to feel a sense of rapport. In psychotherapy, the talking is an integral part of the treatment and the relationship itself can be healing. So it is important in therapy that the patient be comfortable confiding in the therapist, be open and honest, and feel safe saying things that can make one feel vulnerable.Miller compares it to dating, and talks about the plea...
Source: Shrink Rap - July 18, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs

Psychology Around the Net: July 8, 2017
Happy Saturday, sweet readers! I hope you’re all having a great weekend (or whatever day you’re reading this!), but you definitely want to take a few minutes to check out this week’s Psychology Around the Net which tells us more about canine compulsion disorder (and how learning about it helps us also learn about human obsessive-compulsive disorder), the emotional intelligence behind internet trolls, how to deal with friends who always bail, and more. Dogs With OCD Are Helping Scientists Understand the Human Version of the Disorder: Have you heard of canine compulsive disorder (CCD)? Similar to obsessiv...
Source: World of Psychology - July 8, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alicia Sparks Tags: Alcoholism Books Brain and Behavior Creativity Friends Inspiration & Hope OCD Psychology Around the Net Research affective empathy Alcohol Addiction canine compulsive disorder Ccd Clinical Trial Cognitive Empathy Compulsions Source Type: blogs

Are You Fueling Your OCD?
Imagine that you and your friends go to a park to enjoy a summer evening with a campfire. As you and your friends begin to enjoy the nice bonfire, the park ranger shows up and tells you that all fires need to be put out right away. You and your friends are disappointed. How would you put the fire out? As you think about this, your mind could surely come up with countless options. However, let’s pretend that whatever resources you want to use are not available for one reason or another. The only potential medium is a pile of wood logs nearby. Would you use lumber to put the fire out? Of course not, that would be silly si...
Source: World of Psychology - June 26, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Annabella Hagen, LCSW, RPT-S Tags: Mindfulness OCD Self-Help Compulsions Mindful Breath Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Source Type: blogs

If high self-control has a downside, these psychologists couldn ’t find it
By Emma Young Self-control has been dubbed a “master virtue” – one which enables so many others, such as selflessness and perseverance. Indeed, better control of short-term impulses in conflict with long-term goals is linked to everything from greater health to greater wealth. It’s no surprise, then, that schools are adopting strategies designed to improve their students’ self-control, under the assumption that there is no downside. But is there…? Some researchers have argued that there might be. High levels of self-control might promote obsessive-compulsive tendencies, or a dysfunctional kind of perfec...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - June 26, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Emotion Source Type: blogs