Question: What are obsessive compulsive disorder treatments?

Dr. Helen Blair Simpson: There are two treatments for OCD. One is treatment with medications. There is one particular class of medications that have been found to be effective and those are serotonin reuptake inhibitors and that includes medications like Clomipramine, the trade name is Anafranil or the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and they include Fluoxetine, which is Prozac, Fluvoxamine, which is Luvox, Paroxetine, which is Paxil, Sertraline, which is Zoloft, Citalopram, which is Celexa, and Escitalopram, which is Lexapro. All of them have been found to be effective in the treatment of OCD.

The other treatment for OCD that we know works and is as effective if not more effective is cognitive behavioral therapy, but a very specific type called exposure and response prevention.