Overcome OCD Naturally, Without Medication

By Trevor Johnson

The first step to overcoming any problem is to recognize and understand it. Therefore, if you want to overcome OCD naturally, one of the first factors that need to be acknowledged is that it is a form of anxiety. The reason this is important is so that you can fully appreciate what triggers your symptoms. When you understand your triggers, you can focus on them as much as the symptoms themselves.

One way of understanding anxiety is to view it almost as an over-active flight response. With OCD, instead of flight or fight, a person is stuck in a third reaction type, that of prevention. Instead of facing the fear, or running from it, a person with OCD obsesses about the possible danger, and develops some kind of ritual to keep it at bay.

The rituals can comprise of actions, like washing your hands over and over, or even thoughts and urges. These thoughts and urges can also be aimed at oneself, such as obsessing over a particular body part that seems flawed somehow. Regardless, the person performs the ritual to prevent a danger.

Once a person with OCD begins to realize that they are dealing with a fear, the process of overcoming OCD naturally can begin. Instead of fixating on why, for instance, you lock the dead bolt seven times, and turn the door knob three times to the right before locking it, focus on the cause of the ritual. Understand what is happening, and then try to change the way you are handling the situation.

Even if the people around you do not recognize your symptoms, most people with OCD know when the ritual is happening. So, try to change your mindset, and see the urge as a challenge. Maybe tell yourself that you need more adventure in your life anyway, so when the urge hits, make yourself do absolutely nothing for 10 minutes. Each time, delay the reaction longer and longer, until your brain begins to process that nothing happens when the ritual is not performed.

It's all about exposure and response prevention. Even if you cannot control the feeling, you can learn to control the response. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder, and the best way to overcome anxiety naturally, without medication, is exposure to the fear. For OCD, force your mind to recognize that even when the ritual is not performed, nothing happens. When you can do that, you can overcome OCD naturally. - 30309

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