The Science & Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | Huberman Lab Podcast #78

Whatching this because my ocd told me I wasn't really ocd. So now I need to prove it to myself so I stop feeling anxious.

I've kinda known I've had issues with something that make's me feel anxiety and sometimes a panic attack if i can't finish something or have to bring unnecessary thing's with me anywhere and everywhere I go!! Like a hoarder. I can't stand it, but i can't help stop it. I don't understand why i have to have everything a certain way. I've been this way for as far back as kindergarten. I always forget thing's and have to use sticky notes by the door to make sure I have everything. I have to go in and out of the house sooo many times it causes me to be late if I don't check my notes. It drives me crazy and i need severe help!! I'm seeing a therapist I'll now bring this up at the appointment this week. When I was about 5 I always brought my pink stuffed bunny or had my stuffed frog from my 3rd birthday I still have! So now I'm watching your videos to learn what i can!! I even have to have my pillow and hair in the perfect position to fall asleep if I even can. I also have ADHD, PTSD, Anxiety, and Oanic Attacks. When I was younger i could Never!!! Walk on the crease sections of the sidewalks! I felt something bad would happen, because of bad omens or whatever

Is there any chance to overcome or heal from anhedonia. This condition came to after years of severe scrupulosity (ocd)

Doctor can you make a video about anhedonia

What about PANDAS

Thank you Andrew, for all the information you provided, it was incredibly helpful, and very well said and explained, wonderful work!

Thank you for this, OCD is so misunderstood. I really appreciate all of the scientific and carefully thought-out information that was shared. I hope more people become educated, especially through a thorough video like this!

this infomation is not helpful at all.

very good

MYO-INOSITOL helps my intrusive thoughts and ruminations. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Ohhhh nooooooooo. I feel like you're going to talk about Exposure therapy. Yep, you just did it haha. I am told I have OCD and am so resistant to this therapy. I remember it with phobias but the way you are explaining OCD, I intuitively knew by your turn right example that this was going to suggested 😅

Jiro doesn’t have OCD alright, he has something way more intense, he’s Japanese! They don’t do things by half 😂

Everything evolves including schools of thought

I have many themes of OCD intrusive thoughts, ROCD, Sexuality OCD, Germ OCD, Religious OCD, and the worst ones ever HOCD and POCD that make me feel absolutely sick, twisted and evil. It’s the dark, evil, sick themes that I really struggle with and it doesn’t matter how much I just sit with the thoughts they never go! Well they do not go for long! I start checking if the thought is still there, ruminating, looking at people to see if I am the thoughts or it is the thought itself… I have had this for such a long time it’s made me anxious about having kids, I don’t have friends for long and it’s just horrible.. I sit and wonder if anyone else have these sickening thoughts and I research online if actual sick and twisted people think like this just to reassure myself these are just thoughts… I hate it! My brain is like glue it gets stuck on thoughts and that’s it!
It doesn’t help that I am Autistic and have Echolalia where I’m on repeat all day long. 😢it’s just mentally exhausting being on 24/7 and constantly checking that I am a good person even if I know I am a good person and would never dream to hurt another person the way my mind tells me.

I tend to think a kot of problems likely occur at the thalamus, perhaps near the reticular gate.

I suspect ADHD, Autism, OCD, some Sensory Processing Disorders, & some aspects of Alzheimer symptomology occurs via some dysregulation of the thalamus, its nuclei, its gating mechanism, & the interconnected networks (which are many).

I suspect that psilocybin may have a therapeutic effect at & perhaps downstream from the 5-H2A receptors associated with the thalamus.

& the general philosophy behind why I think simply targeting this area with psilocybin would be effective is because I suspect the multifaceted developmental processes would engage with the environments of the psychedelic brain in an analogous fashion to the environments of the youthful brain, simply due to their similarity & the likelihood of these processes being regulated by enzymes & such which have facilitate development via some degree of awareness of the brains' microenvironments, & has a DNA design plan for the healthy/normal plan for the brain which has perhaps maldeveloped.

This may be true at various levels of the sensory modalities as well, perhaps related to the acclaimed increases in acuity in concert with the increased neuroplasticity along the sensory network, allowing the critical period to sinply be opened by both administrating the drug but also engaging the attentional networks in training procedures for those modalities, & psilocybin is likely able to produce the same environment for nearly every neuro microenvironment, especially when targeted both by the drug & by manipulating activation patterns.

Also, psilocybin might be effective at the location of the thalamic-reticular nucleus because of the Gabaergic mechanisms of the drug, & the gabaergic mechanisms of the reticular gate.

In that sense, perhaps other gabaergic drugs could be effective treatments for OCD.

Just gotta say I really enjoy Andrew Huberman because of how he delivers, he’s wordy at times but in a way to be clear and explains things so there is no room for misunderstanding. I really appreciate this intention bravo! 🙌

I was diagnosed, with OCD when i was 15, i was having horrendous thoughts. My weird cork with OCD is i have weird feelings in my head such as, dizziness, pending doom, seizure feeling, zappyness. I've seen many different neurologists, and they all say i dont have epilepsy or seizures. They instead diagnosed me with PNES. So Dr Huberman, have you ever heard of anything like this before? If so do you know what it is because i am very doubtful about these diagnosis's i have had.

Thank you for this episode. You’re a real one Andrew.

I thought I had schizophrenia. I mean, I was diagnosed but I believe it was a misdiagnoses. really I have very verY VERY poor thought control, OCD/GAD. To the point of my thoughts taking over my mind, sounding like another person in the room or muffle voices through the wall. Because I have poor thought control that sounds straight up like another person, sometimes I can’t speak or move; I have to stay still until the moment passes. Because I don’t want my thoughts to also make my behaviors or actions have bad consequences to me or someone else, I self isolate until my thoughts calm down for a bit. It bothers me daily. Multiple times a day. My mind likes to do it very often. When people are kind, accepting that makes me so happy. some people are so mean, as if I’ve done something personal to them. I don’t know them so I have no idea what they may be going through. A little kindness goes very far, really. It can save someone from going too far down their mind traps. I think about Robin Williams whenever I’m feeling so low. Because he made the world smile and laugh even when he was so so low. Stay safe y’all

I have OCD. First started to experience full blown obsessions when I was 18. Went to university on the otherside of the country, parents were split up, got back together and decided to get up and migrate to Australia from New Zealand with the plan to leave me at uni. I was super stressed out and hit with panic attacks one day that did not stop for months. I thought I losing my mind which was my first obession. "I am going to go crazy". Then it sort of changed theme and I thought I was a murderer. Was driven to the point of utter exhaustion and fear that I was going to stab my family and cut my own wrists. I would be scared to go in the kitchen and at some point I would hold kniveson my wrists, almost in a challenge. I have another theme that is the most scary. Existential stuff. What makes me me? What is thinking? Am I in control of my thoughts? Then this leads to the first one - I must be going crazy.

This cycle of "going crazy" existential thoughts with no answers and harm OCD would go on and off for years until 10 years later it came to head where i woke up in a complete panic thinking I was going to stab my wife. I had suicidal thoughts after months of exhaustion which gave relief. I have been seeing a clinical psychologist for more than 7 years now which a focus on Acceptance and Commitment Treatment with ERP.

It seems to blow up when I have stressful life events. Dad died tick. Having twins tick. Getting married tick. Under pressure finishing engineering degree tick.

There were times where I would of cut off my arms and legs to be free from the suffering. That's how bad it can be. I have accepted that I have this for life.

Live by my values. Thoughts do not define me. Gaslight myself into thinking I love anxiety. That's what I do.

I have it it’s genetic in my family I take lexapro and that has done wonders for me but I’m coming off of it due to the excessive weight gain so I hope it doesn’t come attack me and I can continue life as normal… hopefully I can do this naturally

Thanks for shearing knowledge!

Fear is the root cause of all mental illness.

I have a kind of hidden ocd cause I am usually not in worries or anything but sometimes it just uncontrollably starts like an anxiety or worries attack. Like for example if I see someone smiling for the first time then I’ll give a normal human reaction but if I see that again then I’ll start to act worried and weird

Do a video on retro active jealous ocd please

I've gotten so good at hiding my OCD in micro behaviours that it's hard for ME to differentiate between them and not. It creates a confused and delusional state. I want the help but struggle to get it because OCD shame and suspicious thinking doesn't trust others. So I feel trapped.

My mom took me to the doctor when I was 12 for the many compulsions and rituals I would perform throughout my day at home and in school, the doctor told her that as long as it didn’t affect anyone else’s life & only affected Mine that I didn’t need treatment & I was fine & simply exhibiting great habits of cleaning & organization that would only serve me for the better in my future. I had Zero idea there was even medication for OCD until I was in my late 20’s & completely time blind & out of control of my life & mind. I pray parents, friends, humans, that see this share it with as many individuals as they can because knowledge is power & the sooner you become educated the faster & easier it is to implement some of these life changing tools that Dr. Huberman has been so kind to share with us. Thank You Doctor Andrew Huberman you’ve helped me change so MANY areas of my life for the absolute best!😊👏🏽

i suffered horribly 13 years from today…till now nobody got me way out

I HAVE MAJOR real horrific OCD, my whole life! It’s terrible. And yes it is people that will say oh I have OCD I like to keep my kitchen clean or I like to paint all the walls different colors or something like that. I only saw that example because somebody actually said that to me once. Do you like oh I have OCD I have to be in every wall in my house different. I’m thinking oh my god if you only knew it OCD was. It can take up years even decades of your life.

i have ocd psych meds never helped my ocd my ocd made me buy 8 computers adn 3 tvs with in 4 years i ate very cheap food then i started taking alpha lipoic acid adn magnesium close to 7 years and i still get the obsession to look at computers and tvs but i have not bought any i did not need in seven years i finally have control of my ocd i also took pumpkin seed extract adn also my depression has been 100 percent better even anti depressants have not helped much for my depression thanks to alpha lipoic acid adn mganesium my depression is gone i took the ala for nerve pain and the magnesium for muscle spasms at first then i realized how much it helped for my depression and ocd i knew other people with ocd who took psych meds and it never helped them with their ocd

Your detailed discussion on ocd is a great help. My 13 years old son is having ocd since he is 10. He's scared of ghosts It went away automatically as he played around the house. Then again, it came with more strength. Then , I went for medication and the symptoms disappeared for few few months. After a few months he started increasing the rituals and stopped taking medicine
This proved fatal and his ocd became very severe
Now, he's on medication for 6 weeks Though the severity has lessened, the compulsion s and rituals are not decreasing.

How to minimise number of hand wash / day.

Also doing bath takes 1 hour to 75 min. How to bring this to 15 min as target.

Hello Dr. Huberman, have you talked to your friend Dr. Spiegel about this topic. Has or can hypnotherapy be jof help in this condition?

how does scab picking fit in? I know it’s a problem and I related to the shame, the repetition. I disguise it excellently but at low points in my life it’s been chronic, consuming.

OCD is the number one cause of my homelessness. It’s debilitating. It’s almost as if a virus has hijacked the brain.

A basic example is as follows:
Imagine the hospital calls you and says your Mother is in critical condition, you need to get down here quickly! Imagine that feeling you would have in your gut and the paralyzing anxiety. Well, with OCD this feeling (or similar) is produced by things such as touching a bathroom doorknob or being in close proximity to vomit, etc.

If you know someone with OCD, it’s important to not downplay it and try to convince them it’s not real. OCD often results in suicide and I would imagine one reason is that we cannot express what’s going on to anyone.

I have OCD related to imagination of anything. If some one has same and have solution then please share

Hi, there all. After using mdma i am free of OCD for a few days. After one or two weeks the OCD is back at the level, as it was, before taking mdma. Interesting isn't it..?!

I've had OCD for 40+ years. I am so tired of hearing people flippantly saying 'oh I'm a bit OCD about this, that and the other.
They have not got a clue how awful it actually is.

excellent summary. Thank you very much. The big challenge is of course finding the right person to provide treatments. Probably a needle in a haystack. Suggestions (in Europe) are welcome.

Thank you Dr. Huberman. I've been catching up on the past podcasts, and this one really went deep. Its on a topic ive been dealing with since childhood. I think ive grown to use these to demons to my advantage, or at least as much as I can, but they still take a heavy toll on me. Now in my forties, I think its physically apparent its done damage to me. Meditation, exercise, and time in nature help tremendously, but like something you said in an addiction podcast, it's like a long road with a ditch running parallel to that road of recovery. As far as you travel, the ditch is still very close and is easy to fall back in.
The superstitious ending is a powerful portion. So much happens to is in life that seems like more than coincidence. Things most of us wouldn't believe unless you witnessed firsthand. The laws of attraction seem like there's something real there. You could say you see what you want to see in life but when theres real physical evidence for something, and its hard to explain, then superstitious acts start to appear in someone's life, but like the Stevie Wonder song Superstition states - then we suffer. Id love to hear what your beliefs are on consciousness, God and purpose are. I'll look through more of your videos to see what I've missed on these topics.
Thank you again for bringing so much knowledge to us. I'll apply this and the information in the comments from each other to hopefully make myself free of suffering and to become a better person.

I have had OCD since I can remember. I also get harm OCD. I totally understand what it is but when tired and or unwell it can dominate your thoughts. Never in 50 years have I been able to successfully find therapy. I was given a benzo which helped me so much. It was an appropriate use. However in a drive by the Govt it was rapidly tapered against my will and it triggered the harm OCD I had managed alone to ameliorate for 20 yrs almost to the point of forgetting it ever happened. Doctors can be so ignorant.

Very interesting podcast. I would watch more but this video took me more then double time watching bc i had to rewind all the time, so i will avoid it 😢

I find it odd that hand washing, cleaning and avoiding touching things or shaking hands because you don't know if they are clean or not, are put in the same category as irrational fears. Since germs and pathogens are real and dangerous but not detectable with the naked eye, we eveolved these behaviours to protect ourselves from diseases.

Also, thanks to the internet, we are constantly reminded of all the ways mother nature is trying to kill us and that a lot of people are careless and put others at risk, a lot of people don't even wash their hands after the bathroom. So it would makes rational sense to err on the cautious side, wouldn't it?
We always have to calculate risk in any environment but it's tiring especially when stressed so it's better just to have formed a habit of frequent hand washing just in case of unknown risk.
Wouldn't you rather someone be more concerned and focused on cleanliness than less concerned, especially in certain professions like nursing, cooking etc.
Carelessness has caused real tragedy in the past.

can you do a video on borderline personality disorder and obsessive compulsive personality disorder and how they feed off of each other? Thanks man

How do you deal with so-called pure-o OCD? All of my physical ocd symptoms such as contamination and right Ordering of my possessions are long gone, but this rumination triggers by my past memories or even anything disturbing/distracting thoughts have been prevalent.

❤

My testosterone tripled through semen retention and I noticed a significant reduction in OCD symptoms! Hopefully someone reads this comment and tries it for themselves.

What about religious OCD? That’s rough af!

Pseudoscience

Thanks for this!
I'm halfway through now. OCD has been a topic of research for years for me.
Unfortunately I'm a case of CBT therapy not helping, including exposure, in fact it made it much worse.
I m afraid that, that what applies to anxiety and it lacking in clear definition. The same counts for OCD sadly. If you are curious, please read, Ian Jakes book on OCD from problems in the behaviour science.
I understand the classic idea behind the OCD treatments, but they have many flaws. For anyone who is not helped by CBT or SSRIs, please look into PANS PANDAS. Could be incredibly useful for understanding when these other treatments or theories don't add up in your specific case.🙏 i hope it is still covered later on. This is not critic of this podcast, I think you are great, I have still learned stats from this, but I think you might have a bit of a change of mind on certain aspects when you look at other research. 💋