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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffIn some cases, a health care provider or other professional may ask you about your mood, thoughts or behavior. Your doctor may bring it up during a routine medical appointment, especially if you seem to be agitated or distressed. Or you may decide to schedule an appointment with your family doctor to talk about your concerns. In either case, because obsessive-compulsive disorder often requires specialized care, you may be referred to a mental health provider, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist, for evaluation and treatment. In other cases, you may seek out a mental health provider on your own first.
What you can do
Being an active participant in your care can help your efforts to manage your OCD. One way to do this is by preparing for your appointment. Think about your needs and goals for treatment. Also, write down a list of questions to ask. These may include:
- Write down any symptoms you've noticed, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you've scheduled the appointment. Try to have specific examples ready.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Take a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements.
Questions to ask
Also, write down a list of questions to ask. These questions may include:
- Why do you think I have obsessive-compulsive disorder?
- How do you treat obsessive-compulsive disorder?
- How can treatment help me?
- Are there medications that might help?
- Will psychotherapy help?
- How long will treatment take?
- What can I do to help myself?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? Or can you recommend reliable Web sites to visit?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions whenever you don't understand something being discussed.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:
- Do certain thoughts go through your mind over and over despite your attempts to ignore them?
- Do you have to have things arranged in a certain way?
- Do you have to wash your hands, count things or check things over and over?
- When did your symptoms start?
- Have symptoms been continuous or occasional?
- What, if anything, seems to improve the symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen the symptoms?
- How do the symptoms affect your daily life?
- Have any relatives had a mental illness?
- Have you experienced any trauma or stress?
- Ciechanowski P, et al. Overview of obsessive-compulsive disorder. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed
- Anxiety disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/anxiety.cfm#anx3. Accessed Nov. 11, 2008.
- Hales RE, et al, eds. Obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: The American Psychiatric PublishingTextbook of Psychiatry. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.; 2008. http://psychiatryonline.com/resourceToc.aspx?resourceID=5. Accessed Oct. 17, 2008.
- Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association. http//www.psych.org. Accessed Oct. 31, 2008.
- Simpson H, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for augmenting pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2008;165:621.
- Hall-Flavin DK. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 1, 2008.
- Anderson CF. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 3, 2008.
