Techniques to Reduce Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors
Obsessive-compulsive behaviors can be frustrating and exhausting—but overcoming them is not impossible. There are a number of things you can do to improve your life, and it all starts with improving your health. In this guide, we will look at ways you can combat and reduce your obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Reducing Stress
There are several ways of reducing stress in general—many of which are described in a host of self-help books. Relaxation techniques such as breathing and meditation take a little practice to have full effect. The simplest way to start reducing stress is to assess what is causing your stress and tension. You will probably find that your stressors (the things causing your tension) fall into more than one category, such as work-related, relationships, home environment, other, and OC behavior.
A lot of these stressors will be things such as household repairs that you can actually do something about and feel good when improving the situation. Some stressors are things such as the demands of parenting, where you simply do the best you can. Other stressors may be problems outside your immediate control, such as car traffic on your street; for that kind of stressor, after doing the best you can (perhaps by writing letters to City Hall), you have to let it go because it is someone else’s problem. As for OC behavior, you can handle that anxiety with a therapist through CBT, not by stress reduction.
Mild to Moderate Exercise
One of the positive effects of exercise is that it releases endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain relievers. It’s not necessary to work yourself to the point of exhaustion to get a “runner’s high;” just moving around is enough to release endorphins that can improve your mood and feelings. Endorphins provide a natural and moderate way of relieving pain—one that may be of particular interest to people who suffer from severe OC behavior. Statistics show that many people with OC behavior self-medicate with alcohol, tobacco, and other substances that are commonly used to relieve pain and anxiety.
Anyone who is beginning an exercise program should be careful to avoid injury. It’s best to start out with a small increase in activity and gradually add new activities and extend your amount of time and effort. For most people, just a half-hour a day of walking is enough to have good effects; twice as much exercise does not do twice as much good. The idea is to enjoy your activities and the benefit to your physical health and fitness, whether or not you see any obvious improvement in OC behavior.
Sleep
At the best of times, sleep is an automatic and natural part of life that restores the body’s health and vigor. But many people find their sleep patterns are disturbed by a variety of factors. When you are assessing your OC behavior, it’s a good idea to see whether your sleep patterns affect your symptoms.
Lack of sleep is not only stressful and annoying for most people, but it can also suppress the immune system and cause chronic pain. You can’t make up for sleeping less one night or all week by sleeping late for a day or two; that will just throw your daily cycle off schedule.
Sleeping six or fewer hours a day results in chronic sleep deprivation, which affects the functions of the brain in ways that are still not fully understood. Studies have shown that as little as 100 hours without sleep is all it takes to have many test subjects seeing hallucinations. It’s hard to gather statistics on sleep deprivation as experienced by the many people who get by on five or six hours of sleep instead of seven or eight. If you find that your OC behavior is worse when you are tired or sleeping less than you need, that is good news: you have found a simple way to help yourself, even if only a little, by getting the sleep you need.
Dietary Recommendations
There is no one food that will cure OC behavior if you eat it or avoid it. But it is possible for what you eat to affect your general health and therefore affect the way you experience OC behavior.
When you keep a journal of your OC behavior, it may be worthwhile to make brief notes about your diet. These notes can be helpful in determining whether you have subtle symptoms of reactions to various foods. Some foods, including grapefruit, are known to affect other health conditions such as epilepsy, and change the effective potency of some medications.
If you’ve ever wondered why fatty food tastes so good, there are reasons why. Your brain and body need fat to function well. The tissues of your brain and nerves are about 60 percent fat by weight.
Contrary to the belief that you should eat fewer calories by eliminating fat from your diet, it’s actually true that some fats are excellent for you and contain vitamins and other nutrients essential to good brain health. Plan a balanced diet that includes foods containing some healthy fats; the fat and oils in fish are particularly good for growing and maintaining a healthy brain.
Studies are still being done to learn the precise benefits of eating healthy fats when treating OC behavior, but studies have proved the benefits of including fish oils in the diet of people being treated for depression. Because many people who experience severe OC behavior also suffer from depression, and both conditions benefit from treatment for the OC behavior, it seems sensible to many doctors to recommend a balanced diet that includes eating fish.
Avoiding Stress from Food Allergies
While many people have learned to watch out for food allergies as they can cause hives, upset stomach, or even a fatal reaction, it is not common knowledge that food allergies can also cause feelings of stress and discomfort. Managing the ordinary tensions of life, or the anxiety of OC behavior, can be more difficult when one is coping with allergic reactions to food.
There is more than one kind of reaction to food. Food allergies, food intolerance, and various negative food reactions can all cause symptoms other than the usual hives or stomach aches. If you have any negative food reactions, consult your doctor about whether you have food allergies or intolerances. Food reactions can affect your body’s immune system and the cells called antibodies. For children diagnosed with PANDAS, antibodies are a factor in their OC behavior. Research is still being done to confirm whether antibodies have a similar effect on some adults with OC behavior.
Improving your health will help you improve many of the factors that influence obsessive-compulsive behavior, and taking the steps in this guide will get you on the right track. Good luck!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Conquering Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior by Bruce Mansbridge, Ph.D.
