Treatment for<unk> s is similar to treatment for OCD. Exposure and response prevention therapy—also referred to as habituation or desensitization—is useful in treating<unk> s. Mild cases can also be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps patients identify and manage the unwanted<unk> s. Exposure therapy Exposure therapy is the treatment of choice for<unk> s. According to Deborah Osgood-Hynes, Psy.D. Director of Psychological Services and Training at the MGH/McLean OCD Institute, "In order to reduce a fear, you have to face a fear. This is true of all types of anxiety and fear reactions, not just OCD." Because it is uncomfortable to experience bad<unk> s and urges, shame, doubt or fear, the initial reaction is usually to do something to make the feelings diminish. By engaging in a ritual or compulsion to diminish the anxiety or bad feeling, the action is strengthened via a process called negative reinforcement—the mind learns that the way to avoid the bad feeling is by engaging in a ritual or compulsions. When OCD becomes severe, this leads to more interference in life and continues the frequency and severity of the<unk> s the person sought to avoid. Exposure therapy (or exposure and response prevention) is the practice of staying in an anxiety-provoking or feared situation until the distress or anxiety diminishes. The goal is to reduce the fear reaction, learning to not react to the bad<unk> s. This is the most effective way to reduce the frequency and severity of the<unk> s. The goal is to be able to "expose yourself to the thing that most triggers your fear or discomfort for one to two hours at a time, without leaving the situation, or doing anything else to distract or comfort you." Exposure therapy will not eliminate<unk> s—everyone has bad<unk> s—but most patients find that it can decrease their<unk> s sufficiently that<unk> s no longer interfere with their lives. Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a newer therapy than exposure therapy, available for those unable or unwilling to undergo exposure therapy. Cognitive therapy has been shown to be useful in reducing<unk> s, but developing a conceptualization of the obsessions and compulsions with the patient is important. One of the strategies sometimes used in Cognitive Behavioral Theory is mindfulness exercises. These include practices such as being aware of the<unk> s, accepting the<unk> s without judgement for them, and “being larger than your<unk> s.” Medication Antidepressants or antipsychotic medications may be used for more severe cases if<unk> s do not respond to cognitive behavioral or exposure therapy alone. Whether the cause of<unk> s is OCD, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs (a class of antidepressants) are the most commonly prescribed.<unk> s may occur in persons with Tourette syndrome (TS) who also have OCD; the obsessions in TS-related OCD are<unk>  to respond to SSRI drugs as well. Antidepressants that have been shown to be effective in treating OCD include fluvoxamine (trade name Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa), and clomipramine (Anafranil). Although SSRIs are known to be effective for OCD in general, there have been fewer studies on their effectiveness for<unk> s. A retrospective chart review of patients with sexual symptoms treated with SSRIs showed the greatest improvement was in those with<unk>  sexual obsessions typical of OCD. A study of ten patients with religious or blasphemous obsessions found that most patients responded to treatment with fluoxetine or clomipramine. Women with postpartum depression often have anxiety as well, and may need lower starting doses of SSRIs; they may not respond fully to the medication, and may benefit from adding cognitive behavioral or response prevention therapy. Patients with intense<unk> s that do not respond to SSRIs or other antidepressants may be prescribed typical and atypical neuroleptics including risperidone (trade name Risperdal), ziprasidone (Geodon), haloperidol (Haldol), and pimozide (Orap). Studies suggest that therapeutic doses of inositol may be useful in the treatment of obsessive<unk> s.*
Intrusive thought
Mindfulness
Homicidal ideation
Morbid love
Emotional detachment
Obsessive love
Distrust
Mirrored-self misidentification