Surgery

In rare cases, deep brain stimulation, which uses surgically implanted electrodes in the brain, and magnetic stimulation of parts of the brain are done for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that does not respond to other treatments.

Other Treatment

Current research shows that behavioral therapy can be as effective as medicine for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).⁴ But you and your doctor will need to decide whether you will be treated only with therapy or with therapy and medicine.

Types of counseling that have proved effective in treating OCD include:

• Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy in which you repeatedly expose yourself to an obsession, such as something you fear is contaminated, and deny yourself the ritual compulsive act, which in this case may be washing your hands.
• Cognitive therapy may also be used to help overcome the faulty beliefs (such as fear of contamination) that lead to OCD behaviors.

You and your loved ones may choose to go to family therapy. During family therapy, the counselor teaches the family about the condition, offers them support, and gives them suggestions on how to help you with OCD. Family therapy may be very important for other family members who are having difficulty coping with the effects of your illness.