What Medications Are Effective for Treating OCD? (0:53)
Serotonin reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs are the only medications proven effective in treating OCD. In this video, Wayne Goodman, MD, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, that some antidepressants don't work.
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There's only one class of medications that's been proven effective in OCD, in randomized control trials, and that's a subclass of antidepressants called the seratonin reuptake inhibitors, common examples include Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro, they are all good antidepressants but what they have in common is that they work on a serotonin system.
All the antidepressants that may work in depression, that don't affect the serotonin system are generally ineffective in OCD.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental illness where frequent obsessive thoughts cause obsessive, destructive actions like hand-washing. Counseling and medications can help patients manage OCD.
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