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Can Birth Control Pills Help OCD?

People who experience Obessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) live their lives in distress. They find it difficult to do ordinary, everyday things. OCD is an anxiety disorder that can impinge on the young and the old alike.

  1. What is OCD?

    • According to the Science of Mental Illness, an online publication put out by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), OCD is “an anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurrent unwanted thoughts or rituals that the individual cannot control. A person who has OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals, such as hand washing or checking."

    Causes

    • There are no confirmed causes of OCD; however, there are theories relating to a chemical imbalance and association with other types of anxiety disorders, according to Familydoctor.org.

    Whom does OCD affect?

    • OCD isn’t as rare as once thought. According to Familydoctor.org, “… 3 million Americans ages 18 to 54 may have OCD at any one time. This is about 2.3% of the people in this age group. OCD affects men and women equally."

    Types

    • Checkers are people who feel the uncontrollable need to recheck things related to safety, like door locks, security system or even the knobs on a stove. Their fear is that something bad will happen because they forgot to check something.

      Cleaners are those that are obsessed with coming in contact with germs. They can wash their hands compulsively limitless times a day but never feel clean enough. Their compulsion includes cleaning their clothes and home excessively.

      Arrangers are those that must have things in a certain order. They arrange, re-arrange and become irritated if something isn’t in its place.

      Thinkers are those individuals that experience intrusive thoughts of harming other people. These types of people recite, repeatedly, words to ward off these thoughts.

      Collectors are people that collect things they feel they will need in the future. Their fear is that they will need these items and not have them.

    Effects of Birth Control

    • Opinions about whether birth control helps OCD or anxiety is divided. One woman states, “I had to stop using birth control, because it made my panic attacks go out of control.” On forums across the Internet, women are stating similar feelings about the effects of birth control on their OCD. However, according to Roger Gould, MD, of Medhelp.org, women reportedly are saying that birth control helps with their anxiety attacks. He recommend talking with your psychiatrist to determine the cause of the anxiety.

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