Hi I appreciate that you reach out with your concern Generally patient reaches doctor very late (years)for the treatment after the onset of OCD So not only they face chemical imbalance but also develop wrong personality (habit formation) To deal with, one has to take simultaneously Pharmacotherapy and counseling My many patients are off from medicines and totally recovered

Not life long but long time sometimes as medicine will balance chemical that r deficientvin OCD .. so it will take longer time

I understand your concern. In my experience most of the patients suffering from OCD needs longterm treatment.  And we need to assess benefits of continuing treatment over stopping it. It is a shared decision between patient and doctor.

Mostly long course of treatment in ocd and medications can’t be stopped all of a sudden. As per symptom improvement, medicines can be tapered under advice of psychiatrist