I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but without beating around the bush, let me tell you that sadly, there is no miracle cure for OCD. But I am certain you know that by now. People often get into extensive research, watching videos, reading blogs and books,...

Most people who have OCD, and are yet to understand the premise of recovery want their intrusive thoughts to stop. If you read social media posts of people struggling with OCD, many of them talk about needing the thoughts to stop. According to them recovery would mean...

Let us now talk about two factors that majorly affect recovery in ROCD - the severity of the disorder, and the efforts made by the person.  Severity: The first factor is the severity of the disorder. The Y-BOCS test that determines the presence and severity of...

As indicated, recovery in ROCD is not just a matter of getting medicines, popping pills and being done with it. Recovery from ROCD requires a change - a lifestyle change. I come across many people who do not put any special efforts at learning about the disorder and...

A question that is frequently asked by many who want to understand how recovery in ROCD works is - what is better for recovery; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)? Or, sometimes these concepts are used interchangeably. Even by...

As discussed in the previous chapter, cognitive distortions are thought patterns that may convince us of things that are not necessarily true or correct. Since our mental wellbeing depends upon the thoughts that cross our minds, these distortions can cause severe...

The second pillar of recovery is ERP. ERP stands for exposure and response prevention. It is also sometimes referred to as Exposure and Ritual Prevention and/or notated as Ex/RP, and there is really no difference in the two. For the purpose of this course book, we...

When you hear the word mindfulness, what image do you see in your mind? Most people when they hear the word visualize the Buddha sitting in a lotus position with his eyes closed, and some oriental pipe-music (generally a flute) playing in the background. They also...

Jon Kabat-Zinn, the foremost authority in mindfulness and the developer of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program gives us the seven attitudinal foundations of mindfulness. The seven foundations are non-judgmental attitude, patience, beginner’s mind,...

The MAAS assesses two aspects of mindfulness - your attention and your awareness. Following is a simple exercise to develop better awareness to improve attention.  Exercise to build awareness: Set alarms on your mobile phones at one-hour intervals from the moment...

When your brain perceives danger, it responds with a ‘stress response’ and you feel anxious. Engaging in relaxation exercises may help you deal with your anxiety and you may feel calmer. There are various types of relaxation techniques that can be adopted to achieve...

What exactly is acceptance? When I pose this question to people, some of them feel that they have accepted their ROCD. Upon probing, it emerges that they do not accept it, but they acknowledge its presence grudgingly and allow it to pull them down. It is more a sense...

When I talk to people and mention acceptance to them, sometimes the skepticism is so palpable, I can almost touch it. The apprehension is ‘What if my acceptance of my thoughts leads to its manifestation due to the law of attraction as laid out in Rhonda Byrne’s book,...

When you are struggling, it is difficult to find things to be grateful for. ‘What part of my life you think is worth being thankful for?’ you may ask. Your pain may blindside you to the things that you could possibly be grateful for. Even if you could see them, (which...

Psychological insight simply put means awareness of the rationality or irrationality of one’s thoughts. Insight is important in the maintenance of and recovery from several mental disorders. Lack of insight can signify how long the recovery process can take. As an...