When I had OCD, I don’t think I knew it was called OCD.  I just had these obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals.  It would impair my normal life at times.  When I saw my doctor I was too afraid to admit that I had these thoughts and odd behaviors.  I just said I had anxiety problems.  The doctor would give me some SSRIs and see what happens.  The funny thing was that the doctor figured out I had OCD.  I saw it in his notes.

So you think you have OCD but too afraid to ask for treatment?  You might feel that there is a stigma associated with OCD.  Who wants to admit that you have a mental disorder?  You try to hide your OCD problems from your friends, family, and co-workers.  If they knew, they might think you’re nuts.  You would deny to everyone that you’re a mental case and probably deny to yourself that you have a mental illness.  You would have no problem admitting other ailments such as heart problems, a broken leg, appendicitis, melanoma, etc, but not OCD.

If you have obsessive thoughts, do compulsive rituals, and they impair your life, you have problems.  You might have OCD.  Openly talk to your doctor and admit to your doctor that you might have OCD. Don’t be ashamed to admit it to your doctor.  Seek treatment.  Seek help.  OCD is one bad mental illness and it is really tough to get over it.  You’re not doing yourself a favor by deny it to yourself.

Don’t think that you can reason or think yourself away from OCD.  Actually, you can but if you know nothing about OCD you really not equipped to handle OCD.  Don’t expect OCD to just go away.  It usually doesn’t.

OCD is a strange disorder.  It is purely irrational but yet we are compelled to do weird compulsions and have these fearful obsessions.  Normally, we should have neither.  But for OCD suffers, OCD is present throughout the day, almost every day.

My suggestion:  Recognize that if you have OCD, you have OCD.  Don’t go into denial.  Seek treatment, Go see a psychiatrist and a psychologist who specializes in this stuff.  (If you meet a doctor who says to just stop thinking these thoughts, move on to a different doctor.  Also, if you meet a doctor who criticizes you for not remembering your dosage of a medication taken ten years ago, move on to a different doctor.)  Read books about OCD.  Understand what you’re up against.

What do I recommend?  What are my observations?

• Psychologists are not cheap.  They may charge $200 per hour.  Actually, that is cheap because if you take the out-of-pocket cost of seeing a family doctor (about $75/per 15 minute visit) and extend that to an hour ($300/hour), $200 per hour is cheaper than $300 per hour.
• Understand the difference between psychologists and psychiatrist.  Psychiatrists prescribe medicine.   Psychologists don’t.
• Read “Getting Control” by Lee Baer.  Good book.  Another book that many people swear by is “Brain Lock” by Jeffrey Schwartz.
• Just an observation.  Even though you might see a psychologist, it is really up to you to do your homework.
• Learn about ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) and cognitive therapy.
• Don’t expect a cure from OCD.  Excluding myself, I only know two other people are practically over OCD.  Most people who I know just manage their OCD.  They are usually on medication and they have learned to manage their OCD.  I have heard that there is no cure for OCD.  I almost believe that because I get OCD thoughts once in awhile but they are so weak and infrequent that I can just easily ignore them.
• Even though a cure is debatable, there is hope that you can get over it.  Including myself, I only know of three people who are over it.  One went to a clinic and she was over her OCD in a matter of months.  She said that it was a very scary experience.  I think she had a lot of ERP therapy at the clinic.  Another person switched to a different prescription (a non-SSRI), and his pure O thoughts were gone.  Before he had constant violent thoughts and once he tried the drug, his pure O thoughts were gone.  (I tried the drug and it did nothing for me.)  I used a combination of the ERP and cognitive therapy and kept at it for about year until finally my OCD thoughts tapered down.  I don’t take medication anymore.
• Don’t kid yourself.  I have met some OCD suffers who are in bad shape.  I can just tell just by looking at them.  They don’t look good.  They are usually not on medication.  They have their reasons for not taking medications.  Some prefer the natural way.  Some are suspicious about taking drugs.  Some would take the medications and days later stop taking them probably thinking that the drugs are not working.  (The medications usually takes months to take effect, not days.)  It is nice to think that we don’t need to be on medication but I think there is a time when it is a good idea to be on medication (I got on medication after my mental breakdown).  Moreover, my mother could tell if I was having an OCD episode just by looking at my eyes.
• Never go cold-turkey on your medication.  This very important.  If you do, you might suffer bad withdrawals.  There is one drug that if you just stop taking it, you might go into seizures.  On other drugs, if you stop taking them, you might get flu-like symptoms.  I stopped on one of my drugs one time and my head felt very strange.  If you get into a situation when you are about to run out of your medication and your unable to get a new prescription before you run out, go to urgent care and hopefully the doctor can prescribe you enough medication to get by.
• OCD treatment is not a perfect science.  I don’t think anybody knows how a person gets OCD.  A bad upbringing was disproven.  What seems to be known is that OCD might be passed down by genetics and that OCD seems to afflict people with higher-than-normal IQs.  There is one known cause: There is a step throat infection that causes OCD.  Understanding the dynamics of OCD seems to be well known.  How the brain reacts is known.  How a person behaves are known.  However, there is no sure fire method to cure OCD.  Drug treatment involves trial-and-error.  What works for one person may not work on another.  ERP is probably the most effective method to get over the fears.
• Medication affects people differently.  Unfortunately, there is no one magic pill that cures all OCD.  Some drugs work on some people and doesn’t on others.  If you’re new, very likely you’ll start out with a certain drug, wait for a few months, and then see what happens.  Sometimes, a drug might produce adverse side effects.  (I took one pill and I was dizzy shortly afterwards.)  After many months, if a drug doesn’t seem to work, you’ll probably switch to another drug.  It is a lot of trial and error.

That’s it.  There is probably more stuff to write.  I hope this information is hopeful in knowing what to expect when you’re seeking treatment.