Posted by needesp on October 31, 2005, at 0:26:50
In reply to Bipolar unlikely, OCD and ADD very likely, posted by spriggy on October 30, 2005, at 11:42:56
> I did those screening/quizzes on psych central just now to see what I scored.
>
> For bipolar it appeared to be "unlikely" but OCD was pretty high (actually nearly the highest) and at my surprise, Adult ADD showed up very high as well.
>
> What kind of treatment do you receive for OCD and ADD?
>
> This blew me out of the water-- my mother definitely reminded me of the OCD quiz, my dad was totally the ADD and Bipolar quiz.
>
> Maybe I'm somewhere in between.
>
> I think I'll print off my results to show my doctor. Maybe that will be more helpful.
>
> Anyway, I think my question was what type of treatment do you need for OCD and Add?Hi spriggy,
PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is as SLS says an anxiety disorder... it is very much an anxiety that is related to a traumatic event that created fear (at the time of the event) coupled with a feeling of helplessness and this trauma is revisited in your thoughts over and over again. The treatment for this is Cognitive Behavioural therapy usually using "imaginal exposure" i.e. with a therapist you imagine the trauma and learn ways to relax and feel safe again (thats the theory anyway!!)
OCD generally (in its purest form) is treated with high doses of a SSRI (often takes up to 6 mths on maximum dosage to respond - so you have to soldier on through all the side effects to get to the benefits!!) and CBT called Exposure and Response prevention (ERP)..the ERP treatment helps with ritualistic behaviour prevention (eg. washing hands repeatedly; checking locks etc) but I don't know about its efficacy in dealing with the Obsessional (intrusive thoughts) side of things! That ones a doosy!!! a specialist psychologist in OCD would be the best bet for the therapy side of things (they are hard to find though ....we don't have any here where my son lives!) and a psychiatrist for the medication side of things.
The trouble with OCD is that left untreated it can have other types of anxiety and depression latch onto it!!! and its hard to see the forest for the trees so to speak.
I don't know anything about adult ADD!
My son had very severe secondary depression/GAD/Social anxiety (primary diagnosis was ocd) and was therefore treated with Effexor and Avanza (Remeron in the USA)(Both SNRI's). He has been on 300mgs of Effexor and 60mgs of Avanza for 5 mths now (AT THIS DOSAGE) and in the last month he has begun to improve (quite dramatically)... depression gone, GAD virutally gone, social phobia getting under control and OCD improving (ritualIistic behaviours lessoning heaps), the intrusive thoughts still have sway but are coming under his control more and more.
Anyway....a good psychiatrist will be able to unravel your symptoms and decide on the right diagnosis and mediation and once that is in place i recommend you look also for a good psychologist (for ongoing therapy). I say that because most psychiatrists only have 1/2 appointments and half that time is working out how the meds are doing and how to cope with side effects!!
good luck
poster:needesp
thread:573377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051024/msgs/573643.html