Managing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Stephen Smith Resilient Schools 8

Stephen Smith’s life was going great. He was an award-winning college quarterback with a vibrant social life and a bright future ahead of me. But then OCD came out of nowhere and derailed everything.

He started having repeated intrusive thoughts that made him doubt the most fundamental characteristics about himself. Depression hit, and he felt like he was stuck. He went from playing quarterback in college to being housebound in six months due to misdiagnosed and untreated OCD.

It took a lot of time and money to access effective OCD treatment, but once he had the right diagnosis and found ERP therapy, his mental health improved, he returned to school, and he finished my football career. He felt like he had a future once again.

Getting the treatment he needed to conquer OCD was a battle on its own. It made him wonder: Why isn’t effective care more accessible and affordable to those of us struggling with OCD?

Hi experience fueled the creation of NOCD. Talented, like-minded individuals joined me to make this vision a reality. With their passion and innovation, it took off in a big way. Now, NOCD is working to help 180 million people with OCD around the world regain their lives.

OCD is a misunderstood condition, yet it’s one of the few words in our society that everyone recognizes. It’s a condition where people have recurring thoughts and fears that violate their core values and beliefs.

If you have someone close to you that has OCD, you might want to ask them questions such as “what is causing you to do these things?” or “Do you have unwanted thoughts?” or “Do the thoughts feel real, even though you know they’re not?”

It’s important to note that a licensed therapist should do diagnostic assessments with kids. Generalized therapy can be harmful to kids. It’s estimated that 1 in 40 people have OCD in their lives.

If left untreated, people with OCD are more likely to die by suicide.

OCD is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but it often takes 14–17 years to get evidence-based treatment. However, with the right treatment, people with OCD can learn to manage the condition in a three month window.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a very effective treatment for OCD. ERP is based on the idea that trying to stop the thoughts makes the compulsions

• Watch the clip from 20/20 on Howie Mandel and his experience with OCD. Powerful.
• OCD is one of the only words in society that everyone recognizes and everyone misunderstands.
• Condition where people have recurring thoughts and fears that violate the people’s core values and beliefs.
• Questions you can ask: what is causing you to do these things? Do you have unwanted thoughts? Do the thoughts feel real, even though you know they’re not?
• Licensed therapist can do diagnostic assessments with kids.
• Generalized therapy can be harmful to kids.
• 1 in 40 people have OCD in their lives.
• More likely to die by suicide if left untreated.
• OCD is caused by genetic and environmental factors.
• It often takes 14–17 years to get evidence-based treatment.
• Can manage the condition in a three month window.
• Exposure & Response Prevention - Trying to stop the thoughts makes the compulsions worse - instead they need to accept uncertainty.
• OCD is the doubting disorder
• Talk therapy or thought stopping therapy.
• OCD is a chronic condition, treatment needs to be flexible.
• Train all therapists internally in addition to their licensure and monitor regularly.
• Monitoring and support 24/7
• With virtual therapy, therapist can go with them to their location.
• Hoping that every single teacher can recognize and see OCD symptoms and help others.
• Trauma and OCD and veterans in the military.
• PTSD is intrusive thoughts about the past
• Cormordities. Environmental.
• Living on a daily basis can be an exposure in and of itself.
• Learning how to respond to those specific situations
• Accept uncertainty when fear pops into his head.
• Exposures teach them how to respond to their fears.
• When you stop exposures, you forget how to respond.
• The VA article that breaks down PTSD and OCD
• Lack of dissemination of information
• Understand how to probe for it.
• Couple thoughts -
  • 1 subtype of OCD - real event - questioning the memory
• Also build a model that can help us educate students and faculty - easily get connected - disease awareness 1 page summary
• 10% of families will be affected

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments