Anxiety And OCD
What is 'generalized anxiety disorder'?
Generalized anxiety disorder is basically excessive worry. These are the people who are just always worrying. Who are worrying about their kids, and your spouse, and your work, and your future, and everything that can possibly come into your mind gets turned into a worry. So people with GAD notice, GAD is generalized anxiety disorder, notice that they're always revved up and always worrying about things.
What is OCD?
OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder and a lot of people know this from movies and TV shows. People who are afraid of germs and who are constantly washing their hands. This is just one type of OCD. There are actually several types of OCD. Some people have bad thoughts that come into their head that bother them. Some people are afraid of certain numbers or things that they think might be evil. There's all kinds of OCD. It's not just about hand washing, and it can be pretty serious for people.
How do you treat OCD?
There is a very effective and very interesting treatment for OCD which is called exposure and ritual prevention therapy. Basically, you learn to expose yourselves to those things that you are afraid of and to the rituals that typically you do to try to feel better. So for example, if somebody is afraid of germs they are going to be out. They're going to be touching doorknobs, eventually they might be touching toilet seats. So it's a tough treatment, but it is extremely effective.