Treatment Options for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD can be treated in many ways: cognitive behavioral therapy, medications, and surgical treatments. Medtronic provides trusted medical technology for patients with chronic, severe, treatment-resistant OCD.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy may consist of different elements from exposing yourself to a situation that creates anxiety and then preventing the habitual reaction from occurring. Another method is to teach healthy and effective ways to react to troubling thoughts.

Drug Therapies

Taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may help treat OCD. SSRIs can help regulate anxiety and obsessive thoughts.

DBS Therapy for OCD

For some with chronic, severe, treatment-resistant OCD who do not find relief after trying at least three SSRIs, Medtronic Reclaim® DBS Therapy for OCD may be an option. Reclaim DBS Therapy for OCD is a brain stimulation therapy that offers an adjustable, reversible method of treatment for OCD. The therapy uses a surgically implanted medical device, similar to a cardiac pacemaker, to deliver electrical stimulation to precisely targeted areas of the brain. Electrical stimulation may help to reduce some of the symptoms of OCD. In recent clinical studies, patients with severe OCD who didn’t respond adequately to medication and behavioural therapy were helped by DBS.

Surgical Lesioning

In severe cases of OCD surgeries such as anterior capsulotomy, which involve destruction of certain parts of the brain, may be recommended.

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