Introduction: OCD Natural Treatment and Test for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Learn about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD natural treatment and test for obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD is a chronic disorder with uncontrollable and unwanted recurrent thoughts or behaviors that someone has the urge to repeat over and over. Psychologists or Psychiatrists are the most qualified professionals to assist in evaluating and treating OCD.
How To Test for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) (1,2) is a scale used to measure severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It documents the number of hours per day spent on interference from, distress from, resistance from, and control over obsessions and compulsions. There is 0-20 points possible for each of the obsession and compulsion subscales. The higher the number, the more hours spent having obsessions and compulsions. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 40. Anyone may take this self-rating Y-BOCS test to help them determine if they have OCD.
OCD Natural Treatment Added to SSRIs May Improve OCD
OCD is typically managed with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). A recent study showed that OCD natural treatment may include Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha added to an SSRI might significantly improve OCD severity when using this potential OCD natural treatment. Jahanbakhsh SP et al (3) studied 30 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Subjects were randomized to 120 mg of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) root extract daily or placebo for six weeks. All of the subjects were being treated with an SSRI at the time. The Ashwagandha OCD natural treatment group had an initial average Y-BOCS score of 26 before treatment and an average score of 14 after treatment. The placebo group had a score of 18 before treatment and 16 after treatment. The study reported no adverse events and authors concluded that Ashwagandha root extract extract may be a safe and helpful therapy when combined with SSRIs for OCD.
References for OCD Natural Treatment and Test for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
1.Wayne K. Goodman, M.D. Goodman WK, Price LH, Rasmussen SA, et al.: “The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.” Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:1006–1011, 1989. http://healthnet.umassmed.edu/mhealth/YBOCRatingScale.pdf
2.Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. https://psychology-tools.com. Accessed October 24, 2016.
3.Jahanbakhsh SP, Manteghi AA, Emami SA, Mahyari S, Gholampour B, Mohammadpour AH, Sahebkar A. Evaluation of the efficacy of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) root extract in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Complement Ther Med. 2016 Aug;27:25-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27515872