If you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, or even from obsessive thinking, no doubt you’ve run the gamut of help available and not been too pleased with the results. Maybe the best you’ve been offered is CBT and medication?

Well now there is far better help available, but first let’s look at a brief history of OCD treatment!

The Old Days ...

In the distant past, the first commonly-used treatment for OCD was psychoanalysis, based on the theory that OCD behaviour was outside of conscious control, and therefore caused by deep unconscious impulses which had to be discovered and understood. It was believed that once this occurred, the OCD would be cured. The trouble with psychoanalysis was 2-fold. Firstly it went on for very many months and even years (at enormous expense!), and secondly, it didn't work! Psychoanalysis was a lousy failure.

CBT - Better than Nothing (Just) ...

Since the 1980's we have known that OCD is often (but certainly not always) receptive to a mixture of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and medication which alters brain chemistry (specifically neurotransmitters). This approach involves deliberately exposing the patient to the OCD triggers that give rise to ritualistic thoughts and/or behaviours, and then preventing the patient from taking the desired action. Although this does work in roughly 65% of cases, the process is unnecessarily cruel, creating enormous anxiety and even distress for the patient, and at the same time expecting the patient to control his/her impulses through sheer willpower, a silly and callous expectation if there ever was one!

Finally, an Humane and Effective Treatment ...

Over the last decade a very new approach to OCD has been developed and refined. This treatment centres on accurate identification of the array of precise trigger stimuli to obsessive or compulsive thoughts and behaviours. These are the triggers that can be shown to predictably give rise to OCD responses which can quite accurately be labelled "conditioned responses". Conditioned responses are by nature automatic, and often occur before the person is even aware they are happening.

It has previously been believed that conditioned responses were difficult to resolve or eradicate but recent studies involving chemical manipulation of brain pathways utilised during the replay of a conditioned response has provided the key to freedom from OCD, freedom which is often acquired quite quickly and easily, although some cases still require some persistence.

The name of this treatment is Brief Multi-Sensory Activation, or BMSA. It is a gentle treatment, often giving at least some relief almost immediately, and works by eliminating the conditioned responses which characterise OCD. In cases of obsessive or compulsive behaviour, the patient will feel little difference, except that he or she may (with some surprise) notice in hindsight that they did not do the behaviour, and that they now feel little or no need. In cases of obsessive thinking, the same thoughts may continue to arise for some time, but they no longer carry an emotional charge, and soon they no longer even arise.

BMSA is much faster than CBT, far less demanding on the patient, and quickly helps the you to enjoy a sense of control.

A Brief Example of BMSA

You can try it out for yourself very easily, as long as you promise you’ll pick something very minor to experiment on! BMSA should not be used seriously except by qualified health professionals! Do NOT try to treat your anxiety except under medical supervision!

Simply think of something that would qualify as a “mild anger”. This might be the thought of someone who recently upset you, for example. How strong is your “mild anger” over this person and what they did? Use a scale of 10 to set a figure (10 out of 10 would be the maximum and would tell you this is WAY too big for this experiment! 0 out of 10 would mean that you had no particular anger at all. Pick something that is 5 or less on the scale.)

Now as you think about this person and what they did, see if you can rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time (try very hard and definitely don’t let yourself be distracted!), and alternate this with imagining the scenario at the same time that you imagine your mouth is full of chocolate cake, or that you’re laying on a sandy beach feeling the warm sand between your fingers, or that you’re rocking a baby in your arms (try all sorts of things, as long as you’re able to keep the thoughts of the person and what they did in your head!)

Keep this up for perhaps 5 minutes, and then quietly bring back the thought of the person and what they did. Is your “mild anger” still the same, or now, try as you may, do you find that it’s decreased or even disappeared altogether?

In a few days’ time, try think of this person and what they did once more. Was the effect permanent, or merely temporary?