If you have a friend, relative, or someone important to you in your life and they are struggling with OCD, you may want to know how you can help and support them. We'll get into that in this video.
00:00 Introduction
00:34 The emotional impact of OCD
02:08 Feelings of shame
05:17 The first question I ask
06:40 Action points to take away
09:45 Educational resources
10:08 Staying objective
13:06 Should I make accommodations?
18:30 Summary
OCD typically revolves around intrusive thoughts that violate people's values. That is to say they are worried something awful will happen and they feel a duty to protect themselves and others from it (for example, someone cleans to avoid everyone in their house becoming ill). There can be a lot of shame attached to these thoughts and so a sensitive and compassion attitude is often required.
A good first step is to learn more about OCD. Although things like checking and cleaning are often the visible parts of OCD, that's just the end symptom rather than OCD itself so it's useful to understand this. There are some good online resources and one of the books we recommend is Break Free From OCD which we have a review of here:
• Break Free From OCD bo...
When supporting someone, take the lead from whatever stage they are at. For example, if they are just starting treatment, it's best to make allowances for their disorder. In the later stages, you still want to give them the choice, but it might be helpful to remind them that as part of the therapy work they are trying to do things differently. If they have to fulfil the compulsion anyway, don't stop them, but some encouragement to take a different path is a good thing to offer at this point.
Ultimately, understanding, compassion and emotion support will provide the best support for you loved one.