john carcerano psych counselor replied: ".I will advise you how to get free and cheap counseling, and what to do to control your OCD. I learned how to get a good grip on my OCD. if you want to see a therapist and can't afford one, then call your states social services department and ask them where you can get free help. most states, especially in the big cities offer free counseling with a psychiatrist and you can qualify for free meds from the big drug companies. they may charge on a sliding scale for a shrink, i went a long time ago when i needed help and i had to pay $6.00 per session. make some calls, it's all there for you. heres how i controlled my OCD, and it has caused me all sorts of problems in my life. i bacame an alcoholic for 14 years due to the anxiety from my OCD. i've been alcohol and drug free for 13 years now. don't drink or do drugs because this will only make your OCD worse. especially as you come down form substances because of the anxiety and stress that is associated with the comedown. coke and uppers will fuel your OCD severely and stay away from caffiene because this will also fuel your OCD. i am white knuckling it now as far as not taking any meds for my OCD, but i have learned to cut out stress in my life at a very good rate. don't get worked up about things. this will cause your stress and anxiety level to rise and severely impact your OCD symptoms. I should go on meds because when i took 100 milligrams of Luvox my OCD symptoms were reduced by 70%. i also learned to drink caffiene free teas at night and sometimes when i feel a bit anxious I will add cava cava or Valerian root to my tea. I will even at times take melatonin to help me relax at night. i even learned to practice ignoring my OCD when it demands that I perform rituals. It's hard to do at first, but when you ignore the obsessions by not giving in and performing these rituals, the OCD will greatly subside. over a few months time of ignoring rituals it will become easier and easier to not do this. Then it will become more of a maintainence for you to not do rituals. The strength of the OCD symptoms will now greatly reduce. I also learned to do rituals in my mind so I don't look funny to other people doing strange movements. you can learn to get a handle on this. as i got into my teens i was able to hide my symptoms from others by shifting focus of the rituals being performed in my mind. after you have shifted this focus then you realize that you can control, ignore and cut down on your symptoms. good luck. ; ocd is a really wild and wicked disorder, is it not? cut down on stress and work on ignoring your ocd, when you get the impulse to do a ritual like shake your hands or touch something, don't. and say to your ocd, "i know thats just you ocd and your not gonna disrupt my life" focus your mind elsewhere so you can shake the anxiety of not doing a ritual. it gets easier to ignore over short time."