The
obsessive compulsive disorder
is a disease capable of disrupting those affected, completely changing their habits, activities and quality of life, but it extends its consequences to the patient’s family causing a difficult and challenging living condition.
Help for families can come from some guidelines, following which it may be possible to establish a climate of understanding and cooperation in the family.
If in addition, the family also uses the guidance of a consulting specialist who can provide expert input, the disease can be addressed and treated effectively and with better results.
- Know how to recognize the signs of disease.
- Be alert to changes in your family member’s behavior, avoiding underestimating new facts and attitudes not previously recorded.
Among these take note of:
- Repeated actions, even several times.
- long stays, not justifiable, in terms of time in the care of the person in the bathroom, in dressing.
- Attitude of low self-regard, or repeated need for reassurance.
- Very simple gestures and actions that are performed in excessive time instead of minutes
- Being constantly late.
- Manifest state of alertness for minor facts and details.
- Exaggerated emotional responses to negligible things.
- Disturbed or inadequately performed sleep, staying up doing various chores in the night until late.
- Disproportionate eating behaviors and habits.
- A state of irritability or indecision.
- A patient’s attitude of avoiding family relationships, especially when made the occasion for criticism or accusation.
In all of these cases, family members should consider these elements as effects of the obsessive compulsive disorder and not as extroversion of their family member’s character.
Support the family member by not being too demanding.
When faced with the patient’s emotional reactions, dissatisfaction with self, and changes that disrupt his or her emotions offer satisfaction with the improvement achieved, explaining to the patient that his or her efforts have produced better results.
The improvement and the time taken are not predictable.
The patient’s progress is individual and cannot be placed in a term of comparison with other patients or family acquaintances.
It is fine to encourage the patient to achieve better results, but to avoid causing him or her stress.
Not expressing one’s discomfort in life with respect to the patient’s condition.
Avoid making comparisons between the normal living conditions of both the patient and family members before the disease took hold, as this may exacerbate symptoms. Rather, it might be a help to one’s sick family member to point out to him or her the progress that has been achieved, making the worst symptoms appear as facts of the past, giving him or her credit for his or her efforts toward recovery.
The patient will realize the support of his or her family members, take an active role, encouraging themselves of the ever-improving results achieved in reaching the healing goal.
