OCD in the Time of Corona
Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories | Psychotherapy, Trauma, and Psychedelics
04/14/20
•54m
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The postpartum period is by far the most psychiatrically vulnerable time in a woman's life. Erin had always some some mildly annoying obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but they were never a major factor in her life, until just after her daughter was born. Almost immediately she was flooded with horrific violent images and urges, these then morphed into a paralyzing dread of viral contamination.
This is the first of two parts. This episode is Erin's story of learning to lean directly into her fears, the next episode will be Dr. H and Dr. Amy Indermuehle, an OCD expert and Erin's therapist, deconstructing Erin's treatment and how exposure therapy helped her to reclaim her life.
Postpartum OCD
https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/postpartum-ocd/
https://www.postpartumdepression.org/postpartum-depression/types/ocd/
Exposure and response prevention
https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment/erp/
Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com
On Twitter @bftapod
Previous Episode
Ketamine therapy update + Listener questions
March 31, 2020
•14m
Listeners ask: "Can I tell my story on Back from the Abyss?"
"Can you heal trauma that you cannot remember?
Dr. H then looks back at 3 years of 800+ ketamine sessions and further explores the question of intramuscular (IM) vs intravenous (IV) treatment, as well as whether reaching full dissociation is necessary for optimal efficacy.
Dissociation improves ketamine response
https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/depression-advisor/ketamine-induced-dissociative-symptoms-predict-antidepressant-response/
Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com
On Twitter @bftapod
Next Episode
Adventures in Exposure Therapy
April 28, 2020
•43m
In this second of a two part exploration of OCD, Dr. H and Dr. Amy Indermuehle, a Colorado-based OCD expert, deconstruct Erin's treatment. Dr. Amy is a big fan of in vivo exposures, whether that be watching stomach-churning Youtube videos, touching forbidden items at Target, or riding out the anxiety wave in a public bathroom. Dr. Amy highlights how OCD treatment is so different from typical psychotherapy for anxiety and why so many therapists default to the much more comfortable (but counterproductive) option of trying to help patients soothe their nervous systems.
OCD is arguably the most-missed psychiatric diagnosis, for reasons that Dr. H and Dr. Amy explore. OCD is often mistaken for generalized anxiety or for bipolar disorder, with the unceasing obsessions being mislabeled as racing thoughts, and the frantic compulsions as mania.
Dr. Amy Indermuehle
http://facemyanxiety.com
Exposure and response prevention
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/10/exposure-response-prevention-for-ocd/505538/
Meds for OCD
https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment/meds/
Exposure therapy and OCD-related disorders
http://jonabram.web.unc.edu/files/2012/07/Abramowitz-Jacoby-2014-misuse-of-exposure.pdf
Dr. H and Back from the Abyss
https://www.craigheacockmd.com
On Twitter @bftapod
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