Diagnostics
Whether a washing compulsion is present can be clarified by a discussion with a doctor or therapist. The doctor or therapist usually uses special questionnaires (see Diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorders), with the help of which it can be determined whether the characteristics of a washing compulsion are present or not. Another possibility are the so-called behavior tests.
Here the persons concerned should put themselves into the dreaded situation. At the same time, the doctor or therapist in charge of the treatment collects the subjective experience of the person as well as the vegetative symptoms of the affected person in this situation. For the treatment of a serious obsessive-compulsive disorder, the combination of drug and psychological treatment methods has proven to be successful.
With the help of drug treatment, it is possible to relieve the pressure of suffering (resulting from the consequences of the obsessive-compulsive disorder) relatively quickly and to improve the quality of life. The psychological treatment will enable the person concerned to lead a life in his or her society again in the long term. In the course of psychological treatment, the person concerned slowly learns how to deal with his or her obsessive-compulsive behavior and thoughts.
The goal of psychological treatment is the permanent liberation of the person concerned from his obsessive thoughts and compulsive acts. In the case of the compulsive washing described here, obsessive thoughts can arise, such as “If I don’t wash my hands now, I may get dangerous pathogens from other people”. These thoughts can be treated with confrontation therapy.
The persons should put themselves in the feared situation (e.g. in a department store, not washing their hands after touching door handles). They should deal with the situation until the existing fears are hardly present. Another possibility is cognitive restructuring.
Among other things, the affected persons should deal with the probability with which the dreaded event could occur. In addition, the affected persons learn to formulate sentences in the situations of compulsion with which they can get rid of the compulsive behavior and thoughts.As with the other types of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the psychological treatment of the washing compulsion seems to be the most promising. However, the drug accompaniment of a psychological treatment can lead to a short-term relief of everyday life.
