by J Bartell

Compulsive behavior is defined as the irresistible urge, often against one's conscious wishes, to do something. In psychology, the term is often teamed with the word "Obsessive" such as in "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" (OCD, for short). People who suffer from this disorder are addicted to uncontrollable and irrational behaviors that disrupt their lives on many levels.

Below, I will discuss the case history of Betty, a writer, age 42, who had a checking compulsion. This is a classic example of the disorder but it can result in any similar behavior, like excessively washing one's hands or cleaning the house. But don't confuse this type of behavior with all the anti-flu hand washing advice doctors give out these days. A compulsive disorder like this goes far beyond that simple advice.

For example, compulsions may include counting things like footsteps or objects in specific ways or doing any number of other repetitive actions, from dozens of times in a row to perhaps hundreds. People might feel compelled to clear their throats, repeatedly check that their doors are locked, turn lights on and off, open and shut windows or doors repeatedly, touch objects a certain number of times or walk in a certain pattern. If you ever watched the TV show "Monk", about a dysfunctional detective prone to the disorder, you'll recognize the vast array of OCD behaviors people may display.

Causes of OCD: Tied to Anxiety
Some people act compulsively in order to relieve the anxiety stemming from certain obsessive thoughts. These people may feel that performing these repetitive actions will somehow prevent a horrible event from occurring or that it will force the event from their minds. Whatever the motive, the sufferer's reasoning is so distorted that it results in significant distress for the sufferer or to those around them.

The disorder has also been linked to abnormalities with the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical substance in the body thought to have a role in regulating anxiety.

Case History: Betty and Her OCD
Betty was a rather large woman with a wonderful smile and a king size jar of Sanka instant coffee, so she would never run out. Betty told me that she suffered from a checking compulsion. She was compelled to check things over and over. Just before bed, she would check the gas stove 20-30 times to make sure she had turned it off. She checked the front door 10-15 times to make sure she didn't leave it unlocked. She never saw a movie all they way through, because every few minutes she'd feel the urge to check the floor to make sure she hadn't dropped anything on it. And that was just her evening routine. During the day, she checked many other things she did both inside and outside the house.

As you can imagine this bizarre behavior disrupted her life dramatically, preventing her from doing many other "normal" things and living her life to its fullest. It also kept her from having friends because she never had the time to develop her social life. So, what could be the cause of her particular problem? I found a clue in Betty's own admission, that she lacked confidence in things.

I happen to work using a specific kind of behavior modification process called Left-Right Brain Learning and Suggestibility, that I created in the 1960s, which is based upon how the brain functions. The brain is divided into two hemispheres, right and left. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. But also, the left side of the brain is generally responsible for logic and analytical thinking processes, whereas the right side of the brain is responsible for intuitive and emotional responses, among other things. When I know a person's learning tendencies, I can better address their needs and facilitate behavior modification because I gear it toward those natural tendencies. For example, a person who relies more on left brain thinking will respond better to implied suggestions whereas a person relying on right brain thinking tends to respond better to literal suggestions.

What do I mean by literal and implied suggestions?

Example of a literal suggestion
You want to be more confident at work. You give yourself a literal suggestion based on what you want to achieve. "I am more confident at work". Not, "I will be more confident". Think about it. The subconscious doesn't reason it out, the will. How long does it take to occur when you say "I will"? Does it occur tomorrow or next year? It's much better to use "I am", or at least use both. One time, you can use "I will be more confident", and another time, you should say "I am more confident".

Example of an implied suggestion
Same problem, but, how do you feel about not being confident at work? You feel people don't like you, you feel inadequate or inferior. You need to work on suggestions that target your feelings about not having confidence at work. "I know I can do my job very well because I stay relaxed and calm at work, which makes me great at my job." You keep reinforcing that over and over so the negative feelings are replaced with positive ones.

Resolution Goals: Building Confidence, Staying Calm & Focused
I could tell from what Betty told me and how she expressed herself that she was more "right brain", so I started working with her using about 75% more literal suggestions in a relaxed state, with 25% of the suggestion being more implied.

I spent much time working on Betty's imagination using different situations where I would describe how she would be getting ready for bed and she only needed to check the stove and door a few times. I wouldn't tell her not to check things at all but to see herself checking things fewer times. When I talked to her before having her sit in the recliner, I would tell her only once or twice that she would have success with my process, but would also ask her how it was going to feel having this problem behind her. I had her describe in great detail how it was going to feel, as if she were watching a movie from beginning to end.

As I discovered with Betty and the many clients who followed over the years, some people respond in a matter of weeks, while others may take many months. Then there are those who can take a year or more. I've heard many therapists say it will take just a couple of sessions to resolve an issue. There are those, of course, who can be helped in a session or two, but they're usually just the lucky few.

With Betty, she didn't know what started the problem and it turned out that it didn't really matter. But, with using my process, she resolved the issue in about 6 months time.

So what can you do to help yourself if you suffer from a compulsive disorder? Here are two techniques:

1. Exposure and Ritual Prevention: This technique involves gradually learning to tolerate the anxiety associated with not performing the ritual behavior to prevent it. For example, touching something only mildly contaminated if this is the kind of thing that causes you anxiety. That's the "exposure". The "ritual prevention" would be not washing your hands. Or if the anxiety is caused by the need to checks door locks repeatedly, you work toward doing the ritual only once (exposure) without going checking over and over again (ritual prevention).

In working this way, a person becomes accustomed to the anxiety-producing situation but notes that the level of anxiety has dropped. They can then progress toward fewer checks or less washing, as the case may be. However, subconscious reinforcement is absolutely necessary to change habits. So if you're trying to overcome OCD on your own, find a good meditation process and give yourself positive suggestions regarding your confidence in dealing with your particular OCD traits. To make the use of positive suggestions more powerful, find out what type of learning behavior you possess. You can do this by taking a free test at my web site, which is listed below.

2. Circle Therapy: This is a another technique I've used. While in a relaxed state, face a bit of the anxiety associated with your OCD and then let it pass while you suggest to yourself to stay relaxed. As you're relaxing, give yourself the suggestion that the harder you try to feel the anxiety again the harder it will be. Repeat the process about 3-4 times per session. The last part "the harder you try to feel the anxiety again" is now incorporating the "Law of Reverse Action". The harder you try to do something the harder it is to do it. Example: Try not to think of a pink horse the size of a house with bright purple wings.

J Bartell, M.A. is a behaviorist specializing in Left-Right Brain behavior modification using subconscious conditioning.