Andrew Huberman

The Science & Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | Huberman Lab Essentials

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain the biology and psychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and describe the neural circuitry behind repetitive "thought-action loops," including why compulsive actions actually strengthen the underlying obsessions rather than relieve them. I discuss the most effective treatments for OCD, including exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy and SSRIs, and explain what the research shows about how these compare when used alone versus together. Finally, I describe a specific clinical protocol in which patients are guided into states of anxiety while learning to suppress compulsive responses, retraining the brain to break the OCD cycle. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/QiyKONh Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S&si=a1_sA7rUT-fE0OM5 Follow Huberman Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Timestamps 00:00:00 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) 00:00:11 OCD Prevalence & Impact, Obsessions & Compulsions 00:01:54 Categories: Checking, Repetition & Order; Contamination & Disgust 00:04:30 Anxiety, Fear; Genetic Component of OCD 00:07:39 Neural Circuitry, Cortex, Striatum, Thalamus 00:09:56 Cortico-Striatal-Thalamic Loop; Imaging Studies, SSRIs 00:11:02 Diagnosis, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) 00:14:16 Y-BOCS Categories, Identifying the Core Fear 00:16:30 Tool: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Exposure Therapy 00:18:36 Anxiety Tolerance, Interrupting the Compulsion 00:20:46 Dr. Helen Blair Simpson, Ritual Prevention, Exposure Sessions 00:22:20 CBT vs Placebo vs SSRIs; Combining Treatments 00:24:12 SSRIs & Serotonin System; Psychiatry & Causality 00:25:59 Cannabis, CBD & OCD; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) 00:27:53 Mindfulness Meditation, Holistic Treatments, NIH 00:30:00 Nutraceuticals, Inositol; Recap & Conclusion #hubermanlab #science Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer