Miguel Ángel Ruiz: "Not knowing how to manage obsessions is expensive"

What we usually understand popularly by "obsessions" is, in many cases, something that helps us move forward, a source of motivation that leads us to commit to projects. However, in other cases, this term describes situations that not only do not provide us with anything constructive, but also harm our psychological well-being.

In this second type of obsession, clinical and health psychology comes into play.: For many people, obsessive-type problems represent a significant loss of control over their lives, to the point of developing disorders such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

To better understand how this happens and what to do about this type of discomfort, we interview an expert on the subject: psychologist Miguel Ángel Ruiz González.

• Related article: "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): what is it and how does it manifest?"

The psychological treatment of obsessive problems: an interview with Miguel Ángel Ruiz

Miguel Angel Ruiz González He is the Director of the Miguel Ángel Psychology and Psychotherapy health center, as well as a psychologist with more than three decades of experience. In this interview he talks about the nature of obsessions, and how they are treated in therapy when they become part of a problem.

What is an obsession, according to Psychology?

A thought or idea charged with great and excessive concern, sometimes accompanied by an action aimed at warding off the preoccupation, in a repeated and almost imposing way, in which the person ends up enslaved to repeated thought or action compulsive. In addition, it is important to determine that the worry or compulsion is unnecessary and maladaptive.

What are the psychological problems most related to this phenomenon?

Generally, a significant state of anxiety arises that does not allow the person who suffers to lead a normal life. As you will tend to want to have everything under control, you will be in a continuous state of alert, worried about countless things that can go wrong or not be controlled, this will lead to the loss of control. Obviously, all this when we talk about pathology.

Is it easy to recognize that these kinds of thoughts have become a problem for you? Or is it the others who often draw attention to this fact?

The person, when the pathology begins to advance, is usually aware that it is not well. He suffers a lot, in addition to other areas of his life such as sleep, or social relationships are affected. This will also depend on the type of obsession you have; it is not the same one hypochondria Than the fear of leaving the door open, or being whispered about, or turning red.

It is true that many times others see clearly that the family member or friend has a problem, and sometimes it even affects them personally, since these patients frequently involve the close person to carry out, for example, completely unnecessary checks, or for them to tell them a thousand and one times that nothing is wrong, that everything is fine or that this symptom is not important, so calm down. In these cases, they tend to pressure their relatives to ask for help, do this or that... thus making his problem even more serious.

All this does not mean that the person may be clear that he or she suffers from a problem, since as I say, it can also be complicated by family problems or relationship with third parties.

In your experience as a professional in psychological intervention, what are the most frequent complaints of those who go to therapy for problems of this type?

The most frequent problems are related to excessive concern for one's own health or those of close loved ones, or that some misfortune happens to them.

On the other hand, due to the great concern with the image they give, they can become obsessed with that they will turn red or sweat and the rest of us will think atrocious of them. Also about that they can fail in work or other areas and will make a fool of themselves, or that they can go crazy. and hurting your loved ones, leaving the gas or water or the street door open, etc.

What methods and strategies are used in psychotherapy to help these patients?

In the first instance, it is essential to understand and help the patient to understand her obsessions through an adequate therapeutic interaction, what problem does it have, what it does, how and when it does it, and the effectiveness of all this in solving a trouble.

When we have a problem, whenever we suffer, we do things trying to solve it. If we do the right thing, the problem is solved. If not, we can see that the problem, very often, is what the person is doing to free himself. That is, your attempted solution is your problem itself. In that sense, not knowing how to manage obsessions is expensive.

This clear perception of the uselessness of what they are doing, even of how negative and damaging it can be, makes it easier for the patient to feel compelled to change. But it is not about convincing him, but about leading him to see his problem in a radically different way.

From there, we will take the person to carry out a series of strategies adapted to the expression of the specific problem, that is, made to measure. In this way, there will be a radical change in coping with the circumstance in which the disorder is expressed.

Thus, the patient will be endowed with the resources, consequent to the realization of the strategies, that will lead him to experience, notice, feel his problem in a totally different way. That is, to experience the circumstances in which their problem and the problem itself are expressed in a radically different way.

And how is the improvement process taking place?

When a patient experiences that circumstance in a radically different way after having produced that change of vision of his problem, analyze the consequences of the actions that he carried out up to that moment and thus be adequately motivated to carry out very specific behaviors, almost Immediately, in very few sessions what we call "corrective emotional experience" will be produced, which the person will undoubtedly experience very pleasantly.

From there, a radical change will begin in the way you manage those excessive worries or compulsions, and you will experience how your fears and anxiety decrease drastically. From there, all therapeutic work will be aimed at consolidating the change experienced.