Compulsive behaviors are actions that are engaged in repeatedly and consistently, despite the fact that they are experienced as aversive or troubling. Yet treatment can help to manage or overcome these difficult patterns.
Types of Compulsive Behaviors
Millions of people suffer from at least one compulsive behavior. And compulsive behaviors come in many forms, all of which can become debilitating or even dangerous.
Common activities that can develop into compulsions include shopping, hoarding, eating, gambling, sex, and exercise. Though some behaviors are easier to overindulge in than others, in reality, nearly any behavior has the potential to become a compulsion. Some people even talk compulsively.
There are also obsessive compulsions, in which a compulsive person performs certain behaviors to relieve underlying anxiety or other negative emotions. A well-known example is a person who checks and rechecks everything—if the stove is turned off, for instance, or if the door is locked. BFRBs (Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors) are related to obsessive compulsions, These include nail-biting, hair-pulling and skin-picking. In some cases, BFRBs are engaged in to decrease anxiety.
These behaviors rarely if ever decrease anxiety in the long run; in most cases, they only provide temporary relief. In extreme cases, compulsive behaviors start to take over a person's work, home, and social life , at the expense of normal activities.
How to Manage and Treat Compulsive Behaviors
When people engage in compulsions, they become trapped in a pattern of repetitive actions or senseless thinking from which it can be difficult to break free. Compulsions may have a genetic component—they are often seen in identical twins , for instance—but they also often arise after stressful events, trauma , or abuse.
Treatment is key for overcoming compulsive behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Exposure and Response Prevention, and other counseling approaches have proven particularly effective. Therapy may be augmented, especially in more severe cases, with antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication .
Exposure and Response Prevention is a frontline treatment for OCD. For the treatment, a therapist will gradually and safely expose a patient to the item or thought that they fear and then prevent the compulsive behavior that typically follows. For example, if a patient is afraid of germs and washes his or her hands until they are raw or hurt, the therapist will work with the patient to touch a doorknob without hand-washing after to get used to their fear and learn that they are still safe without the compulsive behavior.
A person’s symptoms tend to follow a chronic, fluctuating course over the lifetime, but treating BFRBs through therapy and/or medication can lead to improvements. One prominent form of therapy is Habit Reversal Training ( HRT ), which involves increasing a person’s awareness of engaging in BFRBs and associated urges to engage in BFRBs. With this awareness, the individual can engage in a behavior that competes with the BFRB , like clenching fists, clasping hands, or pressing hands into the lap whenever the urge to pick or pull arises. This training also involves receiving support from a valued person through prompts and praise for use of the competing movement.
Explore More About Compulsive Behaviors
For a comprehensive understanding of compulsive behaviors, read our complete guide: