It is our belief that everyone affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder should receive the most appropriate and the highest quality standards of care, support and treatment.OCD-UK
Receiving the very highest standards of care, support and appropriate treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and sticking to the treatment plan, are the key to long-term recovery from OCD.
When OCD-UK started this journey of helping and supporting people affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder back in 2004, it was not unusual to see people with OCD go undiagnosed for many years, partly because of a lack of understanding of the condition by themselves but also by health professionals. People with OCD would be reluctant to discuss their problem with family or health professionals, often because of embarrassment, guilt, and sometimes even shame, associated with what was once called the ‘secret illness’..
Such reluctance often leads to delays in diagnosis and treatment, with a person at one time often waiting an average of 10-15 years between symptoms developing and seeking treatment.
Fortunately, since 2004, partly through the work of charities like OCD-UK and the advancement of this very website and internet forums, people with OCD are now much more informed. The public and the medical profession alike are also slowly starting to understand and identify OCD symptoms better and quicker, meaning it is now more of a rarity if someone waits many years between symptoms developing and seeking treatment.
People using this very website now know that to recover from OCD, they will need to access treatment, primarily a psychological therapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and with more people with OCD now accessing treatment quicker, it’s important we try and help guide you through the complex maze of treatment access. That’s what we will attempt to do over the next few pages.
Before accessing any kind of treatment it’s worth considering what you can do to prepare for therapy, and also reviewing some of the potential barriers for treatment.
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