Psychotherapy is the first line of treatment when it comes to OCD. However, psychotherapy alone is often not enough, especially when a patient is so affected by the condition that leaving the home is no longer possible. Also, medication can be helpful in the beginning of therapy to reduce the level of anxiety and facilitate psychotherapy. It just needs to be pointed out that medication usually takes a significant while to work, frequently months, and in some cases even half a year to a year. One reason is that OCD is to a substantial part learned behavior which requires time to ‘unlearn’.
Keywords: OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, medication, psychotherapy, psychiatry
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