Mindfulness Meditation as Treatment for OCD

Madelene Trentman Professor Arndt Salt Lake Community College February 23, 2014

The practice of meditation involves being actively present in each moment. It means separating oneself from ones thoughts so as to pay better attention to the present moment. Jeffrey Schwartz four-step treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is based on the fundamentals of mindfulness. This treatments success suggests that the practice of mindfulness improves the quality of life of those suffering from OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a debilitating anxiety disease caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. It affects one person in forty in the general population (Schwartz 1997). This disease is characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are recurrent and unwanted thoughts that typically cause anxiety for an individual. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors performed in an attempt to quiet these obsessions. Often compulsive actions are not rationally connected to the obsessions for which they are performed (Thomsen 2012). For example, a person suffering from OCD may shower five times in a row to prevent a death in their family. This persons obsession is the thought that someone in their family will die unless they shower repeatedly. The compulsion is the actual act of showering five times in a row. Giving into compulsions does give the sufferer temporary relief, but it also causes obsessions to become more numerous and powerful. If people with OCD listen to [the OCD devil]and perform the silly rituals that the demon OCD commands them to perform- they will truly be damned because, in the long run, it will lead only to even more intense urges to perform more and more rituals (Schwartz 1997). Mindfulness, sometimes referred to as the heart of Buddhist meditation, is the practice of being aware. Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are, says, Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present

moment, and nonjudgmentally (1994). Many people obsess over certain thoughts pertaining to the past and future. These thoughts, which often do not accurately reflect true reality, distract a person from focusing on the present moment. Part of mindfulness is being able to acknowledge thoughts for what they are (a thought is a thought) so as to remove oneself from them (Edenfield 2012). A person is better able to acknowledge (and separate himself from) his own thoughts when he knows that they do not define him. Maintaining a detached perspective from ones thoughts is beneficial so that a person can better focus on what is happening in the present. With mindfulness, people are focused on what they are sensing in the moment (Weiss). According to Jeffrey M. Schwartz, an OCD specialist, practicing mindfulness is effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. If a person with OCD can detach himself from his obsessive thoughts, he is better able to have power over them (Volk 2013). In a magazine article regarding Schwartz OCD treatment program, Steve Volk says, If the point of mindfulness is to stand back dispassionately from all our ideas and impulses, couldnt an OCD patient use mindfulness to step back even from mortal fears and compulsions? Schwartz believes so. He describes a four-step treatment method for OCD in his book Brain Lock. Brain Lock is the four-step self-treatment program designed to change the chemistry of the brain. Schwartz has done research on the brains of people with OCD. PET scans reveal that OCD sufferers have much higher energy usage in the orbital cortex than people without OCD. But with incorporation of this four-step method, an OCD patients brain scan shows significantly less energy activity in the orbital cortex. This treatment literally alters brain chemistry. Stated simply, the four steps of unlocking the

OCD brain are Relabel, Reattribute, Refocus, and Revalue (Schwartz 1997). Mindfulness plays into each of these steps (Volk 2013). In the relabeling step, an OCD sufferer separates himself from his obsessive thoughts by labeling them as such: obsessive thoughts. The same is true for a compulsive urge. The sufferer labels it as a compulsion (Schwartz 1997). The recovering OCD sufferer acknowledges that his obsessions and compulsions do not define him (Volk 2013). This way he is better equipped to believe that his obsessions and compulsions are not rational. This relabeling step is simple, but not easy. Refraining from giving into compulsions, like opening oneself up to the truth during meditation, is uncomfortable. Jon Kabat-Zinn writes, We must be willing to encounter darkness and despair when they come up and face them, over and over again if need be, without running away or numbing ourselves in the thousands of ways we conjure up to avoid the unavoidable (1994). Instead of numbing themselves by going through the acts of compulsions, sufferers of OCD stand up against their disease (Schwartz 1997). Once the obsessions and compulsions can be accurately labeled, through the practice of mindfulness, the sufferer moves on to step two: reattribute. He reminds himself that these irrational obsessions and compulsions are the result of a chemical imbalance of the brain called obsessive-compulsive disorder (Schwartz 1997). In mindfulness, thoughts are labeled as thoughts, not reality (Weiss). In the third step, refocus, the OCD sufferer participates in a more constructive behavior. By doing something useful and positive, the person focuses more mindfully on the happenings of the present. Schwartz compares this step to focusing on breathing during a meditation. When a person has had a lot of practice with the first three steps of

the model, he begins to work on the fourth step: revalue. At this step, the OCD sufferer confidently acknowledges obsessions and compulsions for what they really are. He is confident in believing that obsessions and compulsions are only the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Schwartz says, You will come to see intrusive OCD symptoms as the useless garbage they really are (1997). Key aspects of mindfulness play into Jeffrey Schwartz four-step treatment program for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Striving to focus on the occurrences of the present and separating oneself from ones thoughts helps an OCD sufferer gain power over the demands of his disease. Practicing mindfulness is essential for a person coping with OCD.

References
Edenfield, T. M., & Saeed, S. A. (2012). An update on mindfulness meditation as a selfhelp treatment for anxiety and depression. Psychology Research and Behavior Management. Retrieved February 17, 2014.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion.

Schwartz, J. M., M.D., & Beyette, B. (1997). Brain lock: Free yourself from obessivecompulsive behavior. New York: Regan Books.

Thomsen, P. H. (2012). Obsessive-compulsive disorders. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Retrieved February 16, 2014.

Volk, S. (2013, December 11). Rewiring the brain to treat OCD. Discover Magazine. Retrieved February 15, 2014, from http://discovermagazine.com/2013/nov/14-defensefree-will#.UwORJpFbTwI

Weiss, L., Ph.D. (n.d.). What Is Mindfulness? Greatergood.berkeley.edu. Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition