NPR– The letters O-C-D have become a punch line to describe people who make lists or wash their hands a lot. But for some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the intrusive thoughts and rituals are severely disabling and don’t respond to drugs or behavioral therapies.
So doctors have been trying a new treatment for OCD: deep brain stimulation.
Deep brain stimulation is best known as a way to reduce the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. A surgeon places wires deep in the brain that carry electrical impulses from an implanted device a bit like a pacemaker.
In 2009, the FDA approved the treatment for some adults with really bad OCD. Since then, about 50 OCD patients have been treated. One of them is “Mike,” a man in his late 40s who agreed to talk if his real name wasn’t used.
A lot of Mike’s compulsions involve cars. Before he gets in one, he says, he feels compelled to check the doors, the brakes, the tires — sometimes more than once. And once he’s on the road, Mike says every bump can make him wonder if he’s just hit something.
One night, Mike’s OCD actually made it impossible for him to drive through a quiet neighborhood.
For nearly three decades, Mike tried the usual treatments: prescription drugs for depression and anxiety, and a type of behavioral therapy called exposure response prevention. But he was still constantly checking faucets so the house wouldn’t flood, and light switches so there wouldn’t be a fire. He couldn’t hold a job. He was living with his parents.
‘My Mind Was Free’
Greenberg offered Mike a chance to take part in a study of deep brain stimulation — something that’s been tried on only about 50 OCD patients in the U.S.
Read more about Parkinson’s Treatment Could Work For OCD, Too
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