Essentials: The Science & Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

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. <...