In order to understand how to combat compulsive behaviors, addictions or bad habits, one first has to understand the causes of these problems. Compulsive behaviors, addictions and bad habits have a number of causes, but most of them are rooted in mental processes.

 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD is believed to be caused by a combination of biological and psychological factors. Believe it or not, recent research indicates that exposure to certain streptococcal bacteria can be a cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder. (Belkin, L., the New York Times Magazine, “Can You Catch Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?” May 22, 2005) This is a promising area of inquiry because it indicates that antibiotics can help with treatment of compulsive behaviors. However, without treatment of the psychological aspects of this disorder, the patient will continue to suffer.

Psychological treatment for the problems associated with OCD centers around teaching people with compulsive behavior and thoughts to learn to tolerate the anxiety they produce. A recent study in the American Journal of Psychiatry showed that people who received cognitive and behavioral therapy alone for their OCD improved as much as people who received these therapies plus medication. (Foa, Liebowitz, Kozak, Davies, Campeas, Franklin, Huppert, Kjernisted, Rowan, Schmidt, Simpson, Tu, 2005) This research is very reassuring because it indicates that techniques such as hypnosis which are proven to reduce anxiety can be an effective treatment for compulsive behaviors.

 Addictions

Addictions have different root causes than OCD, but similarly, they are believed to have both biological and psychological components. The book Essentials of Clinical Dependency Counseling states that addictions can take root for a number of reasons, including a difficult family history, low self esteem, anxiety, or communication problems due to lack of social skills. This book goes on to state that treatment for these underlying causes is essential in order to successfully treat addictions. For example, low self esteem can be combated with techniques such as guided imagery. (Lawson, Lawson, Rivers, 2001)

Bad Habits

Bad habits are negative behavior patterns that may not reach the level of intrusiveness of OCD or addictions, but nonetheless they can cause serious problems depending on how ingrained they are and how what area of life they affect. For example, nail biting is a nuisance but it affects little other than your appearance; procrastination (if taken to an extreme) can damage your career and your relationships. A paper in Psychological Review from two researchers at Duke University indicates that successful treatment of bad habits requires a combination of removing cues to bad habits (for example, if you consistently overeat while watching television, stop watching television), setting positive goals that conflict with the bad habits (such as planning to run a marathon that requires you to be in shape), and replacing bad habits with good ones (every time you’re tempted to overeat, go for a walk or do a craft instead). (Wood, Neal, 2007) Hypnosis can be a helpful tool in this quest, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website: “Hypnotherapy may be used to change negative behaviors, such as smoking, bed-wetting and overeating.”