Explore Reasons Your Medication May Not Be Working
Although there are many FDA-approved medications available for the treatment of OCD, medications don’t seem to be effective for one-third of people’s OCD symptoms. This can happen because of genetics, body chemistry, other medications you’re on, skipping doses, as well as whether or not you use alcohol and/or drugs. Sometimes, it can take a lot of time and experimenting with dosage and medication types to find the right one for you.
Consider Augmentation Treatment Strategies
Augmentation therapy treats OCD symptoms with more than one medication. This strategy improves the odds of relieving symptoms by using combinations of drugs, rather than a single drug. Augmentation antidepressant treatment may be helpful for people who do not achieve remission with just one medication.
Explore Reasons Psychotherapy May Not Be Helping
Although psychological treatments have come to the forefront in the treatment of OCD, they are not always effective. There are multiple reasons why psychotherapy for OCD may not be working for you, including not being ready for therapy, receiving the wrong type of therapy for OCD, an insufficient relationship with your therapist, lacking social support, financial difficulties and not having the social or family support you need.
Investigate Intensive Treatment Programs
While there are many effective medical and psychological treatments available for OCD, not all treatments work for everybody. Unfortunately, for some people, nothing seems to be effective. This has led to the development of a number of intensive residential OCD treatment programs.
Consider Taking Part in a Clinical Trial
Clinical trials often offer free, cutting-edge treatments that are not yet widely available to the public that can be helpful for treatment-resistant OCD. A clinical trial can also help you understand your disorder better while serving to help others with OCD receive more effective treatments in the future.
Explore Psychosurgery and Deep Brain Stimulation
A very small minority of individuals with OCD have symptoms severe enough to consider brain surgery. Surgical procedures for OCD involve inactivating certain brain regions that are responsible for the symptoms associated with OCD. In most cases, approximately 50% to 70% of people who have these procedures see a significant improvement in symptoms. One of these neurosurgical procedures is deep brain stimulation, which appears promising, although it is still in the experimental stage and often considered a last resort. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a type of noninvasive deep brain stimulation often used to treat migraines headaches and major depression, is another consideration. It was approved by the FDA for the treatment of OCD in 2018.
