Severe intrusive thoughts

[Seekingocdhelp]

Hello I have a family member that is in dire need of help. They have recently become homeless and have tried many different treatments and medications for their severe OCD which presents in rituals and severe intrusive thoughts and mood swings. I am at a loss on how to help this relative. No one takes Medicaid and inpatient facilities have only been negative in their interactions with this person. Every therapist that has been seen says she needs a higher level of help but then the facilities just want to drug her up and put her in group therapy all day which is detrimental to herself as she cannot hear others struggles as she takes it in to herself. Will not do ERP either.Any suggestions? Resources for homelessness too. We are in Illinois.

[Lauragbr]

I wish I had an answer for you. Have you reached out to the administrators of this foundation? They may be able to help. Good luck!!

[Sallyskins]

There's not much I can suggest, except to say that she needs to accept ERP as a treatment. I don't blame her for resisting - it's hard to do and quite traumatic in itself. But it does work.

Medication - antidepressants of the SSRI type are effective in many people. They don't cure the OCD, but they do damp it down and make day-to-day tasks and ERP easier to do.

I'm surprised she has been offered group therapy. It isn't really helpful for OCD and may make it worse.

It's a difficult situation for her, and for you and your family. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but you have my good wishes and sympathy.

[Natureloverpeace]

I’m sorry your family member is struggling and is homeless too. Thank you for caring and reaching out. You mentioned your family member has tried many different treatments and medications which which raises a red flag about the kind of treatment your family member has received. You also mentioned mood swings. It’s very common for people to have more than one mental health condition. Sometimes they can be treated together but sometimes another unmanaged mental health condition interferes with OCD treatment and may need to be treated first. I don’t know if your family member has heard horror stories about ERP or had a provider who wasn’t skilled at applying it. There are some true horror stories about ERP but they are usually due to providers applying ERP inappropriately. If your family member refuses to do ERP and finances are a barrier to getting good quality treatment, maybe they can start out small by watching some free livestreams on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by the IOCDF. Just go to iocdf.org, click on Recovery and Support, then Livestreams. Your family member may need a higher level of care and there are different levels of care. The Livestreams may be a small but manageable step on the way to finding motivation to do ERP as well as provide hope and education. ERP has evolved beyond just an habituation model. It may also be complimented by Acceptance Commitment Therapy (moving toward your values), some aspects of Mindfulness and Distress Tolerance, as well as Inhibitory Learning.

[Scotsil127]

You should reach out to NOCD.com. We have hundreds of therapists that are specifically trained to know how to to ERP, which is the gold standard of treatment for OCD. Help is out there. You just have to reach out for it. We’re online and can get you an appt within a few days. We take insurance but we also have payment plans for those that don’t have insurance. If you have any questions reach out to me.