What is OCPD? Know Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

In addition to specialized treatments, there are several measures that can help people limit the negative aspects of OCPD. If you or one of your loved ones suffers from this disorder, it is not bad to do the following solutions:

People with OCPD often feel that they have too many tasks at their disposal and that they need to perform these tasks in the best possible way. Along with this feeling, the paralyzing fear of failure also makes them postpone their work as much as possible; As a result, these people experience a lot of stress in their lives.

Relaxation techniques are among the useful measures that help these patients to manage stress and improve their mood, while also accepting the fact that some conditions are out of their control.

One of the most useful techniques that can be mentioned in this context is the conscious breathing method. In this technique, deep inhalations and exhalations are used to reduce stress and mental pressure. Focusing on breathing makes people pay less attention to other issues and thus experience less stress.

Another way to manage stress is to have regular physical exercises. Physical activity leads to the release of endorphin hormones in the body, and for this reason, people experience good feelings. Activities like yoga will help release more of this hormone in the body and reduce people’s stress.

Having enough rest and sleep is another technique that helps reduce the stress of people with OCD; Of course, this method, in addition to stress management, also seeks to improve people’s performance.

Another very effective technique to help manage stress in people with OCPD is eating a healthy diet. Having unhealthy eating habits leads to an increase in stress in these people, and for this reason, planning for healthy eating should become one of the priorities of these people’s planning.

People with OCPD have high expectations of themselves, and one of their most obvious characteristics is exaggerating their own or other people’s shortcomings. Self-compassion begins with accepting that all humans face limitations in their lives. Having self-compassion means that people accept that despite trying so hard in life, they may sometimes experience failure.

Self-compassion helps people see life’s setbacks as opportunities to grow and learn, and to forgive themselves for the mistakes they make.

One of the effective steps to have self-compassion is paying attention to the conversations that people have with themselves. Negative self-talk, such as: I’m not good enough or I’m an idiot, are conversations that lead to depression and distort one’s perception of reality. Paying attention to negative self-talk and trying to replace them with positive expressions is one of the effective measures that helps people with OCPD to experience a simpler and more beautiful life.

People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder should use self-talk to encourage themselves; Not destruction. These people should talk to themselves as if they are going to comfort and strengthen the heart of one of their loved ones.

In 2015, a study was conducted that examined emotional functioning in people with OCPD. This study showed that obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is associated with high levels of negative emotions such as hopelessness and difficulty identifying and accepting emotions; Therefore, it is quite normal for people with OCPD to try to hide their feelings. These people may even feel uncomfortable expressing their feelings.

Over time, suppressing emotions leads to problems such as depression and anger explosions; Therefore, managing emotions is very important for OCPD sufferers. One of the effective strategies in this field is to identify different emotions and avoid denying or suppressing these emotions. Learning the physical signs of different emotions is the first step that people can take in this way; For example, people may learn that their jaw tightens when they are angry.

The next step in managing emotions is to accept them. People with OCPD need to learn that everyone experiences a wide range of different emotions and that having emotions like anger or sadness does not make them a weak person.

Another very useful strategy that helps OCPD sufferers in the field of emotion management is trying to identify and solve problems. Sometimes there are very simple reasons for negative feelings that by identifying them, people can take steps to solve these problems and manage their unpleasant feelings.

The last practical strategy for managing emotions is to reassess the situation. This helps people to have a more realistic view of their situation and not see unpleasant situations as big disasters; For example, we can refer to a situation in which a person falls behind in his daily schedule and has to postpone his regular exercise. In such a situation, a person should be able to have a correct understanding of his situation and not evaluate the situation as a big disaster.

OCPD sufferers must accept that they are not able to solve their problems on their own and must seek help from others. People around these people should encourage them to get help from professionals or even people with similar disorders. Talking to people with OCPD helps them to accept their problems and take steps to solve them.

The self-help solutions that we mentioned above alone are not able to cure the problems of people with OCPD and these patients also need professional treatment. Psychotherapy or therapy is one of the most effective methods that help treat the problems of patients with OCPD.

One of the approaches used in this field is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In this approach, the psychotherapist draws the person’s attention to how strict beliefs face serious risks to his mental health. This helps people to revise their beliefs and be less strict with themselves.

Another approach used to treat people with OCPD is called “analytical psychotherapy”. This approach helps people relate current situations to their past experiences. During this treatment, the person may come to the conclusion that his need for extreme control and discipline is rooted in his childhood experiences.

Other psychotherapy methods used to help people with OCPD include the following techniques:

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which helps to moderate people’s emotions.

• Nidotherapy which emphasizes on creating environmental changes to improve people’s mental health.

Along with psychotherapy, drug treatment is also used to improve the condition of people with OCPD; However, you should note that there is no medication to treat all the negative aspects of OCPD, and doctors use different medications to treat certain aspects of the disorder.

There is no way to prevent OCD; But as we mentioned in this article, there are many ways to improve this disorder. Using these methods will help people with this disorder and those around them to experience fewer problems in life and have happier days.