And some people with OCD have eating disorders. In addition, they may avoid situations in which they might have to confront their obsessions. Or they may try unsuccessfully to use alcohol or drugs to calm themselves. If OCD grows severe enough, it can keep someone from holding down a job or from carrying out normal responsibilities at home, but more often it doesn't develop to those extremes. A combination of the two treatments is often helpful for most patients.
Some individuals respond best to one therapy, some to another.
Two medications that have been found effective in treating OCD are clomipramine and fluoxetine. NIH is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Although every effort is made to present accurate information, security is imperfect and unintended errors or mischievous material may be present. Please alert the Webmaster to anything that seems wrong. Of course, while visiting any of our pages, you can be assured of privacy .