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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ( Ocd )

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The Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has been recognized as a pattern of disordered behavior for several centuries, although it was often related to religious ideas and possession by the devil until the early nineteenth century, when doctors began to define the evident behaviors in terms of mental illness (Menzies & De Silva, 2003). Even still, a diagnosis of OCD was largely considered a life sentence as it was believed treatment resistant until the mid-to-late 1960’s (Foa, 2010). OCD is, as suggested by the name, defined by the presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both. The American Psychiatric Association ([APA], 2013) outlines obsessions as intrusive and anxiety-provoking recurrent thoughts, images, or urges which a person tries to suppress or neutralize. Compulsions are identified as behaviors or mental acts performed excessively in a rigid manner as an attempt to alleviate distress caused by obsessions or prevent a dreaded event (APA, 2013). Obsessions and compulsions reach a clinically significant level when they absorb an exorbitant amount of time (e.g., one hour daily), or impair a person in one or more major life domains (e.g., social or occupational functioning), and cannot be better explained by substance use or another medical or psychological condition (APA, 2013). Unlike many other diagnoses, OCD emerges as an equal-opportunity

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