Living with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

Living with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder
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Living with obsessive compulsive personality disorder, OCPD, can be difficult. Coping with this type of personality disorder is problematic because an OCPD patient rarely sees that they have a problem. The patient sees their obsession with perfectionism as normal. Clinicians often have a difficult time treating someone with obsessive compulsive personality disorder due to the patient’s stubbornness and lack of acceptance of their illness.

Coping with this personality disorder is only achievable by understanding and accepting the diagnosis or accepting that the symptoms associated with OCPD are negatively affecting their relationships as well as their job.

How Someone with OCPD are Diagnosed

Those with OCPD deny any inappropriateness of their condition. It is often someone they are in a relationship with or a family member that points out the irrationality of their perfectionism and orderliness. Those close to them are sometimes often able to convince the person to seek medical help for their unhealthy obsessions and compulsions for perfectionism. Someone with obsessive compulsive personality disorder is likely to become easily agitated if someone attempt to interfere with their way of living. It is instances such as this that end up destroying personal relationships for people with OCPD.

Although rare, some people with OCPD may seek help for their disorder on their own. Often they seek help as a direct result of failed relationships or failures at work that have stressed them to the max. It is during the medical history, physical exam, and questioning from the physician that diagnosis of OCPD is often made. As mentioned before, once the OCPD patient accepts they have a problem, the more likely they are to accept treatment-and due to their obsession to follow rules, the patient is more likely to follow a plan of treatment for obsessive compulsive personality disorder.

How to Cope with Living with OCPD

Coping with the disorder is only attainable when the patient accepts the disorder and realizes that treatment is necessary to improve not only the quality of life for a person with OCPD but to also improve the life of their partner, family members and even their interpersonal relationship with co-workers.

It is important that a patient is able to accept their obsession and compulsion for perfection as inappropriate because studies have shown that those with untreated OCPD are at a higher risk for suicide attempts and suicide ideation than other personality disorder types.

To better cope with obsessive compulsive personality disorder a treatment plan of cognitive behavioral therapy will be implemented as will medication in most cases. Studies about OCPD have shown that a combination of CBT and medication ,such as Prozac, help the obsessive compulsive personality disorder patient more than using one form of treatment.

Finding the Right Doctor to Help Treat OCPD Crucial

Therapists who specialize in treating OCPD are the most beneficial in helping the patient be able to cope with their condition and use their symptoms to an advantage in their life than a disadvantage. Doctors that have specialized training or experience with OCPD patients are more likely to help a person living with obsessive compulsive personality disorder to cope with their disorder and live a mentally healthier life; enabling the patient to better cope with their condition and improve their relationships and work habits.

Sources:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000942.htm

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and suicidal behavior: evidence for a positive association in a sample of depressed patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19607764https://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx26t.htm