Is It GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder or OCD?

Do you have GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder or OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Have you wondered about the difference between GAD and OCD?

First, if you are exhausted and frustrated with OCD, I can help you.
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If you are wondering if you have OCD,
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People with GAD and OCD have worries and anxiety and rumination and catastrophize and run through what-if scenarios.

And they also are over-thinkers and have difficulty tolerating doubt and uncertainty.

There is an overlap in symptoms between people with GAD and people with OCD, but I want to point out some key differences so that you know the difference as that affects your treatment.

1. First, people with OCD have what we call “sticky thoughts”. The thoughts, images or sensations can get stuck and become obsessive.

People with GAD have worries that jump around from one topic to the next. And although the worries may be excessive, they are not the same worry, repeatedly.

2. That brings us to the content of thoughts. People with OCD experience obsessive thoughts that are the opposite of their character and opposite of who they are and what they value. We call this ego dystonic.

People with GAD typically have worries surrounding what they are doing or going to do.

3. And the third difference concerns rituals and compulsions.

People with OCD may do physical compulsions and rituals like washing, blinking, checking door handles, tapping, re-doing things to get a just-right feeling, etc.

They may also have mental compulsions like ruminating, analyzing, replaying things, repeating things, counting, neutralizing bad thoughts with good thoughts.

The purpose of the compulsions is to self soothe, and lower their anxiety and discomfort, although the behaviors actually feed the OCD cycle.

For people with GAD, they typically do no perform rituals and compulsions like in people with OCD, but they can have some of those behaviors. And they often do have avoidance behaviors and ruminate and do other behaviors that may maintain their anxiety cycle as well.

It is important to know whether you are experience GAD or OCD, because this ultimately affects your treatment. A trained therapist is going to interview you to review your symptoms and history and include assessments like Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale and the DASS and other measures before giving a diagnosis.

And, to make things a little more complicated, it is possible to have both conditions.

As far as treatment goes, the gold-standard treatment for OCD is ERP, Exposure and Response Prevention as a first line of treatment. There are other therapies like ACT and mindfulness, and medications that may be added to the treatment as well.

For GAD, ERP can also be effective for some, and other therapies focused more on thoughts like CBT’s cognitive restructuring or ACT therapy using cognitive defusion along with acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies.



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(Although Paige Pradko is a licensed psychotherapist, the views expressed on this video and this YouTube channel including comments or any related content should not be taken for medical, psychological, or psychiatric advice. Always contact your physician and mental health provider before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.)

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