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How apps and VR therapies can help OCD patients

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With OCD, as with phobias, it is often a ritual or safety behavior that helps the patient cope with their fear and feel safer, but rituals reinforce the fear. Michael Ambrose, a licensed clinical psychologist My OCD Care, he says, “We’re not trying to get used to fear, we’re trying to build a second learning path. It’s important to interact with things that can confirm your fear.”

Predicting too many negative outcomes is a feature of OCD, and avoidable behavior reinforces fear. People with OCD learn that when they have fears through exposure therapy they overestimate their thinking. As more and more difficult exposures progress, they become more functional and open to life.

Ambros stressed how important it is for people with OCD find a specialist. “There are many conditions DSM-V ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) that can be treated by a generalist, but OCD is not one of them. Spending too much time talking about obsession and trying to get to the root of it is not helpful for someone with OCD. They need exposure to be comfortable with uncertainty. “

Where can people find help?

International OCD Foundation it offers an extensive list of resources, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to secure OCD treatment. Many ERP-trained therapists have waiting lists and many do not take out insurance. ERP sessions can run for $ 300 an hour or more, depending on location. After the first two hurdles of time and money, one of the biggest hurdles in dealing with OCD is learning how to manage it between therapy appointments.

Smith saw how technology could make a difference between appointments and took on the role of creating an OCD treatment platform that allows anyone, anywhere, to live with support regardless of where they live or how much money they have. NOCD supports many insurance plans and has the option to pay money for uninsured members. The NOCD app is free and available to everyone. Provides access to community support groups as well as self-help tools.

Another convenient way to get a comfortable and inexpensive OCD treatment is TalkSpace. The patient can choose to pay for a live video, text, or video or audio message with a therapist. services They want it. Rachel O’NeillA professional clinical consultant with a degree in TalkSpace said, “I’ve had a few moments with my clients, through a live video session or video message that I’m able to be part of their home or office environment, I’ve been much more connected than I’ve been in a traditional office.” .

Seeing a patient there their space is helpful, especially if there is fear in that space, but what happens when a person is associated with something they can hardly encounter? Many obsessive and intrusive thoughts are taboo, immoral, or illegal, so it can be impossible to challenge or simulate. If the point of treatment is exposure, how do you get it?

Virtual Reality can help people with OCD

“In vivo approaches can also be costly at times, as is the case in flight phobia for flight therapy,” Nadkarni said. “And some patients may also be willing to try virtual reality therapy because it’s safer to recognize that the patient knows it can be turned off.”

Mariaskin gets creative with real exposures for her clients, but she also uses them Okulua VR headsets for some OCD subsets, such as claustrophobia. Clients carry Oculus Go, and the therapist explains a specific virtual environment in which the walls progressively approach them. “We control the point where the walls stop,” he said, “and we can be very fine by creating exposures that fill existing patients.”

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