Prozac for OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental condition where a person has persistent anxiety-provoking thoughts. For many, but not all, sufferers of OCD, they carry out repetitive, ritualized behaviors which the person feels powerless to stop. The repetitive behaviors are often an attempt to stop the persistent thought. So the person who is plagued by thoughts of germs and disease will often wash his hands repeatedly hoping to stop the thoughts of dirt and contagion. The behavior may stop the thought for a brief time, but it will recur without intervention.

For most people with OCD, anxiety, stress and depression are symptoms of their conditions. While drugs will not cure the OCD, they can provide relief for these symptoms. Prozac is a good example of the kind drug that works for these issues.

Prozac is a selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). SSRIs work by increasing levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain. The increased serotonin helps the brain neurons communicate with each other. SSRIs are approved for use to help a variety of disorders including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and OCD.

In a medical research project published in Medscape, SSRIs including Prozac were shown to help relieve symptoms of OCD. In fact people on Prozac were twice as likely as those taking placebo to report improvement.

Prozac will perform best when combined with an effective behavior modification program. Using Prozac to treat the symptoms while not getting therapy for the underlying cause of the distress is not an effective way to find a long term treatment for OCD.

Source: Medscape, WebMD