At Refresh Recovery, we offer evidence-based treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders in San Diego. We understand that each individual’s needs and objectives are unique, and we strive to create a sustainable approach to transition. We provide the necessary tools and support to help you thrive positively.
Refresh Recovery, nestled in the heart of San Diego, has emerged as a national leader in providing compassionate, evidence-based care for individuals grappling with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance use disorders, and co-occurring mental health challenges.
Renowned for its innovative approach and patient-centered philosophy, Refresh Recovery offers a comprehensive treatment model tailored to meet each individual’s unique needs. By combining cutting-edge therapies such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) with holistic support systems, their highly skilled clinicians ensure that clients receive the clinical expertise and empathetic care they deserve.
Driven by a mission to help individuals reclaim their lives through proven methods and unwavering support, Refresh Recovery stands at the forefront of recovery services. Offering hope and healing to those navigating the complexities of OCD and mental health in San Diego and beyond, they provide a beacon of light for those seeking relief from the debilitating effects of this disorder.
OCD, a mental health disorder affecting between 1 and 2% of the population, is a debilitating and paralyzing condition. Individuals with OCD experience intensely negative, repetitive, and intrusive thoughts, accompanied by a chronic feeling of doubt or danger (obsessions). To alleviate these distressing thoughts and quell the associated anxiety, they often engage in repetitive actions (compulsions). This cycle of distressing obsessions and compulsions can leave individuals feeling trapped and unable to break free. At Refresh Recovery, we firmly believe that individuals are more than their symptoms and are committed to supporting them with science and compassion.
Many people now use the term “OCD-ish” without fully comprehending the severe nature of the disorder, especially in its acute forms.
Despite these challenges, there is an average delay of over 11 years between the onset of OCD and receiving treatment. This delay is attributed to the fear of institutionalization, the stigma surrounding mental health disorders, and the belief that no one can provide assistance. This decade of unnecessary suffering and isolation was caused by a condition that could have been effectively managed.
OCD not only affects the individual with the disorder but also extends its impact to their friends, families, employers, and colleagues. The rituals associated with OCD can have a profound and detrimental effect on family dynamics, often leading to strained relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives who may feel unable to acknowledge the pain their loved ones are experiencing, let alone provide the necessary support.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a debilitating and misunderstood condition that often leads individuals to conceal it for years or even decades.
Contrary to popular belief, OCD is far more prevalent than initially thought, with estimates suggesting that it affects between 1-2% of the population. The positive aspect is that OCD is a treatable condition, and individuals can manage and recover from it through therapy and medication.
Obsessions occur when individuals become excessively preoccupied with intrusive thoughts. These thoughts are often misinterpreted as indicators of risk or responsibility.
Intrusive thoughts are random and automatic images, worries, or feelings that everyone experiences as part of being human. They arise from the brain’s constant scanning for danger or interest and hold no inherent meaning. These thoughts are hypothetical, and most people describe them using the phrase “What if…”.
In individuals with OCD, obsessions revolve around one or more specific themes. These obsessions cause individuals to notice the intrusive thoughts and experience significant anxiety and distress. Initially, these random thoughts may seem insignificant, but as attention and preoccupation increase, they become more meaningful and frequent. What distinguishes an obsession is the inability to let go of the worry until one feels entirely certain that the issue has been addressed. Any uncertainty or doubt surrounding the obsession becomes unbearable.
Obsessions are always centered around unwanted or feared situations, and individuals with OCD feel a strong sense of responsibility to resolve the issue, prevent harm, and find a solution.
These can take any form, like obsessions, and the OCD cycle will be the same no matter what they look like. The actions or rituals most associated with OCD are visible, such as hoarding, checking, cleaning, or arranging things. Most people with OCD, though, also experience mental or invisible compulsions such as:
Compulsions can have a seemingly logical connection to the topic of someone’s obsessions, like hiding knives because of a fear of stabbing someone. They can also be completely unrelated, like wearing matching clothes to reduce the likelihood of one’s house burning down. It helps to remember that a feeling of responsibility and doubt drives compulsions, not logic. Even if the compulsion seems logical, the person will not stop until they have fulfilled a specific requirement or feel exactly right. This might take several hours into the ritual. No matter how rational or irrational someone’s worries or safety behaviors seem, logic will not break the cycle.
Like many other conditions, OCD is a mix of genes, psychological factors, and life experiences.
Psychological – Individual tendencies like being vulnerable to stress and anxiety, feeling overly responsible, or a sense of perfectionism could be tied into why a person gets so stuck in the OCD cycle.
Environmental—The experiences and societal values someone is exposed to can inform assumptions or pressures that become part of the person’s OCD cycle.
Sometimes, when our mind is filled with very upsetting thoughts, we can try to take actions that will bring us relief and make the thoughts go away. We might start believing that these actions will eliminate our anxiety or make these thoughts disappear. Sometimes, having rituals that calm us down helps. But when these rituals or habits become ‘compulsions,’ we think we must do them. We might start to believe that if we do not do them, something terrible will happen to the people around us.
With OCD, our compulsive habits or rituals often make us feel worse. This is because anxious thoughts rush back again once the pattern is finished, sometimes even more extreme. This is how some people get trapped in a cycle of doing the same action repeatedly, unable to stop.
OCD rituals can be evident to others (like checking if doors are locked) or happen inside your head (like counting things or trying to counteract negative thoughts with positive ones).
There is a misconception that ‘being OCD’ is just about being tidy and ordered. Wrong!
OCD thoughts can come in all shapes and sizes and involve different habits and rituals. They often revolve around things like danger, dirt, pollution, or worries about sexuality and religion. Some people feel guilty or even ashamed of their thoughts. Substance use disorders, also known as addiction, like drinking, cause extra shame and guilt on top of the physical and cognitive effects.
Previous definitions of obsessive-compulsive disorder included that some people might experience only obsessions or compulsions. It is now better understood that all people living with OCD experience both, albeit in less obvious ways.
Someone might perform compulsions not directly triggered by intrusive thoughts or obsessions, but this is because the brain’s cycle is becoming more automatic. In these cases, the focus is no longer a fear of harm, for example, but a fear of the harm-based intrusive thoughts in themselves (obsessing about obsessing). In this case, the compulsions’ goal is not to relieve anxiety but to avoid it coming up at all.
Even though OCD ranges from mild to extreme, each person’s distress is genuine. Everyone experiences obsessions and compulsions occasionally, but for the experience to be labeled a disorder, it must cause pain and noticeably impact the person’s quality of life.
The irrationality of the cycle gets confusing and horrifying. When someone lives with OCD, they do not experience their worries and rituals as quirks or annoyances, as they might look outside. The intensity of the anxiety and doubt felt on the inside is debilitating, exhausting, and chronic. Furthermore, it can feel ashamed and isolated or like you are losing touch with reality.
People with OCD tend to hide symptoms because they are embarrassed about their irrational worries and behaviors and fear that their intrusive thoughts might be misunderstood. Being aware of what is rational and what is not does not help reduce the anxiety of the OCD cycle, but it allows them to choose what they show to others.
You might stick to invisible compulsions around other people as much as possible, have an easier time holding back while you are out, and then get overwhelmed by anxiety and the need for compulsions when you get home. OCD is often called the ‘hidden’ or ‘secret’ condition, and people who struggle with it might even wait decades before seeking any support. Victims are told there is no help available or just need to learn to live with it.
Some disorders related to an obsessive-compulsive disorder, like body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, social anxiety disorder, excoriation disorder, or trichotillomania, are considered separate disorders that require different and specific treatment.
If obsessive thoughts and habits start to take over your life, let us provide a personalized program at Refresh Recovery. There are reliable and proven treatments available for OCD and other mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar, social anxiety, and PTSD. Recovery is possible with caring and knowledgeable mental health professionals in the most aesthetic environment.
