Prashant, 25 yrs old, always had something ticking at the back of his mind. If he read the newspaper, he would read it again fearing that might have missed some information. If he locked the house, he would go and cross check again. Movies were repeated, people were spoke to again and this behaviour was just not costing him his relations, it was affecting others around him too.
“I used to get tired. This constant feeling of putting things in place and ensuring that I covered all made me look perplexed, anxious and stressed all the time. I am a journalist and the habits were affecting my career and my personal relationships. I couldn’t make anyone understand why I behaved that way,” shares Prashant.
The son of a government employee, settled in Bhopal, Prashant was first diagnosed with Obesssive Compulsive Disorder at the age of 9. The family consulted numerous specialists – Psychiatrists , Hypnotherapists and Psychologists, but nothing seemed to improve his situation.
“The fear of your child being branded as a social delinquent and being called mad is what kept our struggle alive. Firstly we accepted it our son is suffering from a mental disorder which can be cured and then we continued to consult specialists in the hope that someone will be able to understand us, our son and give us some solutions,” shares Prashant’s father.
After searching for a number of specialists online, Prashant stumbled upon, Dr Preeti Singh, Sr Consultant Clinical Psychology at Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon. Dr. Preeti has extensive experience of more than 16 years in psychotherapy, enabling her to use Behavior ,Cognitive and Biofeedback Therapy to treat stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, obsessions, compulsions, stammering, assertiveness skills training, eating disorders issues effectively. Her expertise in Psychometry enables her to conduct various psychological testing tools on children and adolescents and adults like Intelligence , memory functions, personality profile,, diagnostic clarification, neuropsychological testing which include lobe wise brain functioning assessment.
On consultation with Dr Preeti, she analysed all reports and confirmed that Prashant was suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. According to Dr Preeti, “Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things repeatedly, perform certain routines repeatedly (called “rituals”), or have certain thoughts repeatedly. Such habits affect the daily life of the patient adversely. People are unable to control either the thoughts or the activities for more than a short period of time. The real cause of the disorder is unknown, however genetics, environment and the brain functioning are suggested to pay some role. Prashant had been suffering from the disorder for a number of years and the same had had a controlling effect on his life. The best thing about the situation was that the family and the patient had already accepted the worst,” shares Dr Preeti.
She adds , “ Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has to be rigourous and has to be complemented by the patients dedication in becoming well again. The same includes a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Continuous follow ups are essential.”
Prashant was given pharmacological management with Cognitive behaviour therapy. The same included intensive sessions of exposure response prevention with biofeedback therapy. For the treatment plan weekly sessions were conducted for 2 months. Prashant significantly responded in 8 sessions.
Today it has been more than 6 months of therapy at Paras. Prashant looks more confident and self assured. “ It’s not just me, others have also seen the change and complemented me. I see an absolute improvement in my mood and the self assuring has limited by tendency to cross check things. I am now able to be a part of a society and not stick out like before. Whether it is watching a movie or reading a book, today both activities relax me instead of stressing me out, “ shares Prashant.
Dr Preeti shares, “It is important that the patient and his family cooperate. Treatment for mental disorders includes a lot of patience and support. The road to recovery is tough, but if you have the right guidance and assurance, the bumpy ride can become memorable.”
