Health, Longevity & Biohacking
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Dramatically Outperforms SSRIs for OCD Treatment Effectiveness
Huberman Lab
The Science & Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | Huberman Lab Essentials
What was said
"Cognitive behavioral therapy had a dramatic effect in reducing the obsessions and compulsions such that by four weeks that score that in this case ranged from 8 to 28 dropped all the way from 25 down to about 11... when you look at the effects of SSRIs in the treatment of OCD symptoms, they had a significant effect in reducing the symptoms of OCD, but the severity of their symptoms was still much greater than those receiving cognitive behavioral therapy alone."
Dr. Helen Blair Simpson's research at Columbia demonstrates that cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure reduces OCD symptoms far more effectively than SSRIs alone, with symptom scores dropping from 25 to 11 in just four weeks. Surprisingly, combining SSRIs with CBT provided no additional benefit beyond CBT alone, suggesting behavioral intervention should be the primary treatment approach.
Verification status
Attributed speaker claim
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Source and context
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- Programme
- Huberman Lab
- Episode
- The Science & Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | Huberman Lab Essentials
- Clip time
- 22:34
- Original source
- Watch the source segment →
From this episode
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