Angela Kim ♡

Question:

What is the most effective way to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

 

Hypothesis:

Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy will reduce the percentage of rituals when compared to the other treatments and someone who is not receiving therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy uses two techniques called exposure and response prevention. It teaches a person healthy ways to cope with their anxiety, by exposing them to their ultimate fears and retraining one’s thought patterns. With the one on one contact/help of an OCD trained therapist, one can thoroughly open up and explore their behavior of OCD.

 

Background:

The goal of this experiment was to find out which technique was the most effective way to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. There is not a consensus among doctors and scientists as to treat OCD. The three most common ways to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are: Special Medication, Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy, and Naturally with the help of special vitamins and food supplements. However, when this experiment was conducted last year, the three techniques used were: Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy, Naturally (with the help of special vitamins and food supplements), and Meditation. The dangers of using medication were too extreme, so meditation was substituted. Last year, this experiment was conducted with three people who are diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. They were instructed to see which technique was the most effective way to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, over the course of a month (31 days). They spent each day testing these three techniques all at the same time, while keeping track of their OCD journal and ritual list. With the help of these three techniques, they took notes of which technique helped them get rid of their habits the most. In the end, the results showed that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was the most effective in treating their OCD symptoms and rituals. However, the three participants agreed that it would have been easier to focus on one of the treatments instead of all three at the same time. Therefore, a continuation for this project seemed to be fitting. It was a popular request by many teachers, students, and science fair judges as well. So for this year’s continuation science fair project, the three people diagnosed with OCD were used again. Instead, the three people would focus on one technique only. Therefore, they could invest all their time and effort into one technique to see the effectiveness of this one treatment method as to compared to a person with no treatment. And lastly, a control factor was needed. Another person who is diagnosed with OCD was added to the project. This person would not participate in the techniques and was instructed to live a normal daily life with OCD.

 

Methods:

Cognitive Behavior Treatment Therapy

Participant #1 was instructed to attend Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy three times a week. During the Therapy session, they were instructed to take the take home assessment called “The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)” to evaluate how serious their OCD was. They were to attend the Therapy sessions three times a week for a month and a half. It would focus on retraining their thought patterns by using exposure and response prevention. With the skill of relaxation and coping, these two techniques could be fully utilized to their advantage.

 

Naturally with the help of special vitamins and food supplements

Participant #2 was instructed to intake special vitamins and food supplements each day for a month. One supplement was vitamin B, found in such foods as potatoes, bananas, beans, and molasses. An adequate amount of vitamin B can help the nervous system. The second supplement was essential fatty acids. They were instructed to take Omega-3 (Fish Oil Pills), because it would calm the central nervous system. It was very crucial for them to keep a well balanced diet while taking these pills. Lastly, they had to give all their effort to try their best to treat OCD naturally. Treating OCD naturally meant: exercising daily, letting your heart control your feelings, busying one’s self with other things, and reading books about treating OCD naturally. The book agreed upon was: Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Ian Osborn. This self-help OCD book has many great reviews and has helped people all over the world with treating their OCD. Lastly, the most important part of naturally treating OCD is the confidence in one’s self, and the passion to treat OCD.

 

Meditation

Participant #3 was instructed to meditate for an hour each day for a month. Meditation practices included: Self yoga, deep breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, following a mantra, taking long walks, and listening to soft classical music. These practices can reduce stress and anxiety. It can help relieve Obsessive Compulsive Disorder symptoms over a course of time.

 

Observations:

1. The participants with OCD acknowledged that when treating a mental disorder, help/support from others is definitely crucial. As much as confidence, self-belief, and passion are important, the support of people you love and trust is certainly fundamental.

 

1. When analyzing the journals of my participants, the biggest similarity was why they carry out a compulsive habit. They all start with an obsessive thought, and they feel greatly anxious and nervous. Then this causes them to perform their habit, to temporarily provide relief for their distress. One can be worried that someone they love will get seriously hurt if they do not carry out their habit, or one can be worried that their test grade will be horrible if they do not carry out their habit. Their reasons for carrying out their habits always differ for each habit. However, it goes on and on as a cycle, and as they perform their habit, they are content. But anytime later, they will think of more obsessions, eventually repeating itself like a cycle.

 

1. The participant who was not receiving any type of treatment worked as the control factor in this experiment. This participant did not show any eagerness to treat her OCD. This made me realize that there are many people out in the world who are diagnosed with OCD who live their lives without trying to treat their disorder. It may be a personal choice, but living life with OCD can be very exhausting and time consuming. I felt a lot of sympathy for this participant because their fellow friends were receiving treatment while she wasn’t.

 

Results:

All four participants started off with a high number of habits/rituals. When they first took the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Test, three of them were scored as “severe” and one was scored as “moderate.” Then after the progression of one month and a half, the participant receiving therapy went down two labels as “mild”. The participant treating their OCD naturally with supplements went down one label to “mild.” The participant treating their OCD through medication went down one label and scored “moderate.” And the participant who received no treatment stayed in the same label as “severe.” What a great contrast! The habits reduced from Cognitive Behavior Treatment Therapy seemed to be the most effective.

In the beginning of the month, Person 1 listed 58 habits. Over the course of 1 month and a half, Person 1 crossed off 27 habits from the list, just from the help of Therapy, eventually ending with 21 remaining habits. Person 1 was able to cross off 46.55% of their total habits from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Person 2 started off with 31 habits in the beginning of the month, and with the help of special vitamins and food supplements, crossed off 10 and eventually remained with 21 habits. Person 2 was able to cross off 32.25% of their total habits from vitamins and supplements. Person 3 started off with 57 habits and crossed off 20 with the help from meditation, eventually remaining with 37 habits. Person 3 was able to cross off 35.08% of their total habits from meditating. Person 4 who received no treatment technique started off with 56 habits and eventually crossed off 7, remaining with 49 habits. Person 4 was able to cross off 12.5% of their total habits without any kind of OCD treatment. The percentages of the outcome were astonishing. Person 1 was able to cross off 46.55% of their habits just from the progression of one month and a half and 18 Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Therapy. The success that Person 1 achieved was truly outstanding, and with continuous therapy sessions, Person 1 will be able to cross off more habits as time goes on.

 

Conclusion:

My hypothesis was proven correct. Cognitive Behavior Treatment Therapy was proven to be the most effective way to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when compared to the other treatments. Participant #1 said that relearning and retraining their thought patterns in the therapy sessions were very difficult to do; however, when they completed it, they were able to take advantage of their thoughts and obsessions. With the technique of exposure, they were able to face their fears one on one. After all, experience is the key. The therapist also taught participant #1 relaxing and breathing techniques. Participant #2 said that it was quite hard to remember to eat foods with Vitamin B in it daily as well as eating Omega-3 pills daily. Participant #2 said that she didn’t think the supplements were all that helpful, but exercising daily, thinking about other things, and the book really helped treat OCD habits. Participant #3 said that clearing thoughts, taking long walks, doing yoga, and listening to soft, classical music helpful. They said it was hard to consistently schedule in one hour a day to meditate, but it would really help calm the nervous system. These meditative practices helped her clear her mind and think peacefully, where obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions could not enter. The 4^th participant claimed that treating the disorder with no treatment technique was too difficult. Participant #4 said that she would live her daily life with no inspiration to help treat her OCD.

If I had to do this experiment again, I would reach out to many more people. It is rather difficult to find many people diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder who are willing to go through an arduous journey in search for a treatment. The results would have been a lot more accurate if there were more people involved. Also, I would definitely increase the days of experiment since one month and a half are quite short periods. How would experimenting for a whole year be like? How about 5 months instead? Also, I would like to experiment with medication next time. I would have to ask my doctor about the different dangers and negatives about taking anti-depressant medications. It is a huge risk, but medication is definitely a helpful technique in curing OCD.

Overall, this experiment was a huge success. Not only was it extremely fun, as my curiosity for the results were huge, but it also could open up many new doors. The cure for Obsessive Compulsive Behavior is unknown, but now we know what the most effective way of treating OCD is. And with the right type of passion and zeal, any Obsessive Compulsive can break free from the realms of this disorder.