Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Effective Therapies for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

"Without treatment, OCD can be a lifelong struggle, with symptoms coming and going. The best treatment to reduce OCD behaviors in children and adolescents is exposure and response prevention therapy (ERPT). ERPT is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Doctors may also choose to use a medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) to treat OCD.
Medical experience and research support CBT as an effective first-line treatment for youth with OCD, either alone or in addition to medication. Doctors have also found that individual and family-based therapies have been shown to help children and adolescents with OCD."
https://effectivechildtherapy.org/concerns-symptoms-disorders/disorders/obsessions-compulsions-and-ocd/#effective-treatments

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

What Works

• Exposure and Response
• Individual child (probably efficacious); family-focused individual and family-
• Prevention (ERP) focused group treatments (possibly efficacious).
• ERP meets well- established criteria for adult OCD.

Selective reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) 

• Clomipramine: Approved for children age 10 years of age and older.
• Recommend periodic ECG monitoring.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

• Fluoxetine (Prozac): Approved for children 8 years of age and older.
• Sertraline (Zoloft): Approved for children 6 years of age and older.
• Fluvoxamine (Luvox): Approved for children 8 years of age and older.

 

Not Adequately Tested

• Cognitive Therapy only
• Psychodynamic Therapy approaches.
• Client-centered Therapy

Systematic controlled studies have not been conducted using these

 

What Does Not Work

• Antibiotic Treatments
• Antibiotic treatments are only indicated when the presence of an autoimmune or strep-infection has been confirmed and coincided with onset or increased severity of OCD symptoms.
• Herbal Therapies
• Herbs such as St. John’s Wort have not been rigorously tested and are not FDA-approved. In some instances, herbal remedies may make symptoms worse or interfere with pharmacological treatment.