Yesterday I offered a brief introduction to the concept of Neuroplasticity. In this post I’ll review Schwartz’s treatment methodology for sufferers of Obssessive Compulsive Disorger (OCD). Before I go further I need to mention Schwartz’s “Brain Lock” a book I haven’t read but which purports to provide readers with enough of the methodology to allow OCD sufferers to treat themselves. For this blog it’ll suffice to give a high level description of the treatment so tomorrow we can focus on why he believes his treatment works.

Schwartz’s methodology, first designed for his OCD patients consists of: Relabel, Re-attribute, Refocus and Revalue. The underlying assumption is OCD is caused by over activity in the “OCD circuit” located in  the orbital frontal cortex, the anterior cingulate gyrus and the caudate nucleus. In effect, these areas combine to act as, in Schwartz’s words, the brain’s transmission. In OCD the transmission is jammed or locked in place and these areas continually broadcast an insistent warning (The doorknob is soiled, your hands are dirty, if you don’t count and alphabetize the cans in your pantry your mother will die…). Schwartz’s treatment is meant to weaken the blaring OCD circuit while strengthening an alternative circuit broadcasting a healthy message. If the patient is successful in leveraging the brain’s plasticity, they will eventually extinguish the OCD circuit. This is where the four “R”s come in:

Schwartz has his patients first relabel the OCD message as false signals and symptoms of their disease. Then he instructs the patient to re-attribute the signals as pathological symptoms and not representing a factual need to rewash their hands again. Once the Patient has sufficiently distanced himself from these signals, Schwartz advises them to refocus their attention on healthier thoughts. As an example, instead of washing their hands they might focus on working in the garden. Finally Schwartz would have them Revalue the OCD compulsions and obsessions, realizing they have no power or intrinsic value. For purposes of this blog I greatly simplified the process and hasten to encourage sufferers of OCD to read Schwartz’s book before deciding whether his treatment makes sense for them. It is worth noting, Schwartz claims a cure rate twice that of other approaches. I encourage people to not dismiss his claims lightly.

Up to this point in the book, Schwartz’s claims are substantiated by impressive amounts of research. When he gets into why he thinks his methodology works, the amount of supporting research is decidedly less substantial. This doesn’t mean his theory is wrong, just it is currently outside of the mainstream and somewhat unsupported by current scientific knowledge. Tomorrow I’ll outline Schwartz’s theory for how his methodology works.