Beat Your OCD

Ridding Your Home Of OCD

OCD rituals and compulsions often are most severe in the privacy of one�s own home. While they occur throughout the day in many different situations, the home turf is often the most problematic. Hair pullers, for example, usually do the most damage at home � not at work Likewise, many symmetry, repeating, and checking rituals occur more frequently at home than anywhere else.

What is it about the home that allows for more ritualizing?

Although some families do contain high stress, for most people the home environment is less stressful than work or other situations. Yet the OCD is worse at home.

I believe that certain characteristics of the home environment inadvertently facilitate obsessive symptoms. We often feel that our home is our castle. At home we can do whatever we like. We don�t have to worry about how others view our behavior. We can do bizarre things without feeling embarrassed. No one�s watching, except maybe other family members. And who cares what they think? They already know about our idiosyncrasies.

Additionally, time constraints and responsibilities often are less at home. Especially for single people, there is far less accountability at home than at work. Chores can be put off. Time can be wasted. Rituals can then be indulged in. This relative lack of accountability and increased privacy allow OCD rituals to run unchecked.

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OCD gobbles up free time. It turns free time into OCD time. Some sufferers may feel that they have earned the right to ritualize after a hard day�s work. They may just want to relax and let it all out. We know, though, that a little ritualizing only produces more ritualizing and ultimately more stress. As with addictive behaviors, performing a few rituals usually increases, rather than decreases, the desire to do more. (Delaying the ritual, though, is an effective way of lowering the urge to do it.)

We are faced with a dilemma. A warm, indulgent home environment allows obsession disorders to flourish, which then turns our cushy castle into a hellish prison. How do we deal with this situation? How do we maintain a warm, relaxed home environment without giving a green light to OCD? The answer lies in learning how to be loving and firm with ourselves. Dr. Tamar Chansky addresses this issue for parents of children with OCD in her excellent book, �Freeing Your Child from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder�.

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How, though, can we apply this firm, loving attitude towards ourselves in our own homes? A good place to start is to get accurate data on how much time you spend ritualizing at home. Buy a stopwatch. As soon as your compulsion kicks in, start the watch. When you stop obsessing, turn it off. At the end of the day, record the total amount of time you spent obsessing at home. Do this for a week. You�ll be amazed at how much time you wasted. Think about specific things you could do with that extra time.

P.S. Don�t give time estimates. Using the watch increases self-awareness, which is the necessary first step in changing behavior.

Next, schedule in a 20-30 minute block of time when you can do your exposure and response prevention (ERP) exercises. Reward yourself by engaging in some pleasant activity after you complete the exercises, e.g., watch a favorite TV show or listen to some music. Remember that ERP only works if you do it. Building in incentives helps you to do it consistently.

Try to isolate OCD in a small area of the house or apartment. For example, if you obsess a lot, do it only in one room. (Pick a room that�s not too comfortable.) Establish other areas in the house that are OCD-free zones. Never obsess in these areas.

Gradually expand the OCD free zones. Isolating it will reduce your desire to engage in it. Notice which activities trigger OCD. For example, some people obsess and ritualize a lot while talking on the phone or watching TV or laying in bed. Whenever you obsess on such occasions, interrupt the activity. If you catch yourself ritualizing during a TV show, turn off the TV for one minute, stop ritualizing, and only then turn it back on.

Repeat this process whenever necessary. If you obsess in bed, get out of bed briefly, stand for a minute without obsessing, and then return to bed. One patient of mine has a compulsion to run in the house from one location to another. Whenever this happens, he now has to either crawl back to the starting point or else run a block outside. All of these tactics penalize the OCD. They also uncouple the association between the activity and the tendency to ritualize. Neuroscientists note that �neurons that fire together, wire together� We want to break those neural connections between OCD and certain places and activities.

Invite friends and coworkers to your house often. Their presence might inhibit your ritualizing. Establishing some precedent for being in the house without ritualizing might make it easier to avoid ritualizing even when they are gone. Make a commitment to avoid ritualizing for at least 10- 20 minutes after they leave. Then make it longer.

Finally, plan your free time so that you do rewarding, enjoyable activities. Don�t sit around the house doing nothing. OCD loves a behavioral vacuum. Pleasant activities, especially with other people, improve your mood and prevent it from infringing on your time. If you are not working, consider a part-time job, volunteer work, or classes at a local college or adult school. By filling your day with meaningful activities, you help to crowd out OCD. All of these tactics help to minimize OCD and make your home life more rewarding.

Beat Your OCD Problem