A variety of treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) behaviors through the years has resulted in a number of effective ways to treat those individuals affected by OC. Three treatments currently in use are the Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT), the Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) methods and the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. There are also a number of different drugs used to treat the OC individual, in conjunction with the above mentioned therapies as well as by itself.
             In order to fully understand what type of disorder this paper is referring to an Obsessive-Compulsive behavior can be classified as; "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous condition involving unwanted distressing thoughts and compulsive rituals concerning one or more general themes." (Abramowitz 2003 pg 1049).
             This paper will discuss the use of DIRT, ERP and CBT therapies for treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive behavior. The discussion will be limited to those individuals who are treated in regards to their compulsive obsession disorder with any of the methods. A comparison of the effectiveness of treatments featuring the use of drugs as compared to the effectiveness of treatments that forego such applications should lead to a conclusion of which particular method is most likely to lead to the most successful resolution to the exhibited behavior. Whether a doctor employs a psychological approach (sometimes coupled with medication) or the doctor exclusively uses drug therapies for treatment, are based on addressing the behavior of the sufferer with therapy.
             Throughout this paper the comparison between DIRT, ERP and CBT will focus primarily on the effectiveness of non-drug introducing therapies.
             Using DIRT to treat an OC patient seems a common sense approach to the problem, yet it was only during the latter part of the twentieth century that this particular method was developed. DIRT treats t...