OCD

Treating OCD at the Root Cause

We specialize in TMS Therapy for safe and effective treatment of OCD.

What is OCD?

At Long Island Neurocare Therapy, our therapists have expertise in treating various mood disorders through TMS Therapy.

What is OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress.²⁹

You may try to ignore or stop your obsessions, but that only increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to try to ease your stress. Despite efforts to ignore or get rid of bothersome thoughts or urges, they keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior — the vicious cycle of OCD.²⁹

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How does TMS Therapy treat OCD?

TMS Therapy non-invasively targets abnormal circuitry of OCD in the brain.

Prior to each treatment, patients undergo individually tailored provocations to activate the abnormal OCD circuitry (for instance, asking a person with germ-related obsessions and compulsions to touch the floor and then not use hand sanitizer).³⁰

Frequently Asked Questions

What are OCD Symptoms?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder usually includes both obsessions and compulsions. But it’s also possible to have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms, as detailed below:²⁸

Obsessions often have themes to them, such as:

Fear of contamination or dirt
Doubting and having difficulty tolerating uncertainty
Needing things orderly and symmetrical
Aggressive or horrific thoughts about losing control and harming yourself or others
Unwanted thoughts, including aggression, or sexual or religious subjects

Examples of obsession signs and symptoms include:

Fear of being contaminated by touching objects others have touched
Doubts that you’ve locked the door or turned off the stove
Intense stress when objects aren’t orderly or facing a certain way
Images of driving your car into a crowd of people
Thoughts about shouting obscenities or acting inappropriately in public
Unpleasant sexual images
Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands

As with obsessions, compulsions typically have themes, such as:

Washing and cleaning
Checking
Counting
Orderliness
Following a strict routine
Demanding reassurance

Examples of compulsion signs and symptoms include:

Hand-washing until your skin becomes raw
Checking doors repeatedly to make sure they’re locked
Checking the stove repeatedly to make sure it’s off
Counting in certain patterns
Silently repeating a prayer, word or phrase
Arranging your canned goods to face the same way

How is OCD Diagnosed?

OCD is diagnosed during a physical and psychiatric exam when obsessions and compulsions:²⁹

Take up at least one hour each day
Are distressing
Interfere with daily life

Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

*Content References: 28. Mayo Clinic; 29. Johns Hopkins Medicine; 30. The Clinical TMS Society.