Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a common chronic disorder in which a person has uncontrollable and recurrent thoughts and behaviors that he or she feels the urge to repeat. OCD often centers on things such as a fear of germs or the need to arrange objects in a specific manner. Symptoms normally start off gradually and vary throughout life. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is described to have appeared since the early seventeenth century. There are more than 200,000 cases in the US of people with OCD per year. The most common age range of people affected by OCD ranges from 6-60 years old. OCD commonly affects adults, adolescents, and children all over the world. Most people tend to be diagnosed by the age of 19. The typical age for boys is 9 and …show more content…
To briefly help understand and know what both obsessions and compulsions are, examples of real situations and factors are beneficial. Obsessing and being obsessed are commonly used everyday words. However, obsession is even more serious. Obsession considers repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety. The most common symptoms of obsession include fear of germs or contamination; unwanted thoughts sexually related, religious, and harmful; aggressive thoughts towards others or self; loss of control; and having possessions in a perfect order. Furthermore, compulsions are repetitive behaviors a person with OCD feels the urge to respond to in response to an obsessive thought. The common examples of compulsions include excessive cleaning and washing their hands; ordering and arranging objects in a particular way; repeatedly checking on their surroundings; or counting. Not all habits are relatively compulsions. However, a person with OCD generally cannot control his or her thoughts or behaviors, even when those thoughts or behaviors are recognized as being excessive. People with OCD tend to spend at least an hour a day on thoughts or behaviors; they do not show pleasure when performing the behaviors or habits, but they feel relief from the anxiety the thoughts have caused; and they experience important problems in their daily lives due to the thoughts or behaviors. There are individuals with OCD that also have a tic …show more content…
However, patients respond to treatment, while some patients continue to experience symptoms. Sometimes people with OCD also have other mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphic disorder, which is a disorder in which someone mistakenly believes that a part of their body is possibly abnormal. The treatments include talk therapy, medications, etc. The medications are Clomipramine, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Sertraline, and Risperidone. The brain structure becomes affected. Therapy can help identify personality patterns. Psychotherapy appears helpful in identifying personality characteristics or patterns of behavior that tend to get in the way of developing good coping strategies or takes advantage of treatment. Furthermore, there are clinical psychologists that are trained in personality assessments to
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a pattern of recurring obsessions and compulsions that are severe enough to be time consuming and interfere with a person’s daily functioning. They must cause marked distress (such as pain or physical harm to the person) or significant impairment. Usually, they take more than
According to psych central website’s article, OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and disturbing thoughts (called obsessions) and/or repetitive, ritualized behaviors that the person feels driven to perform (called compulsions).
The following is an overview about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), one of the most difficult psychiatric illness to be understood. The way of doing certain behaviors, thoughts or routines repeatedly is the essential condition of a person with OCD. In general, it is known and described by someone who is extremely perfectionist and meticulous. Unfortunately, they do realize those habits and be able to stop doing it. Common behaviors are such as checking locks, doors, stove bottoms, and lights, hand washing, counting things, or having recurrent intrusive thoughts of hurting oneself or somebody else.
What is OCD? OCD stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a psychological disorder that makes an individual have a great deal of anxiety due to unwanted thoughts. The individual will try to reduce it by engaging in repetitive behaviors or compulsions. OCD is a part of an individual’s everyday life, so it is natural to have some obsessive thoughts. However, when it interferes with your every day lifestyle, then the individual knows that it’s a disorder. An example of the most common OCD that someone may encounter are contamination, accidental harm to others, perfection when it comes to washing, cleaning, or arrangement of things. Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms can change over time. It is most common
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) was once considered a rare disease, but today, it is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders present among society. OCD is described as “intrusive thoughts or images (obsessions), which increase anxiety, and by repetitive or ritualistic actions (compulsions), which decrease anxiety” (Stein, 2002). In the DSM-IV, Obsessive compulsive disorder can be diagnosed through observable behaviours or repetitive mental habits. Symptoms include; the constant washing of hands, and/or fears concerning danger to others or to self – resulting in frequent paranoia. OCD has been linked with lesions in various neurological circuits of the brain due to the consumption of dopamine agonists (for example, cocaine). In order for obsessive compulsive disorder to take clinical significance, dysfunction and distress must follow symptoms. The treatment of OCD was initially developed in the Freudian era, as psychoanalytical treatment was seen as the most effective treatment at the time for mind management. Conversely, recent empirical evidence proved otherwise. Pharmacological therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy, also known as systematic desensitization are nowadays the most prominent remedies used in treating obsessive compulsive disorder.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 2 to 3 percent and is estimated to be the 10th leading cause of disability in the world. Patients with OCD experience recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive, stereotyped behaviors (compulsions) that last for at least one hour per day and significantly interfere with the individual 's normal level of functioning. The intrusive obsessional thoughts
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as just simply OCD, affects from 1% to more than 5% of the total population. This paper gives an overview of current diagnosis criteria, statistical data, causes of the disorder as well as current treatment options. While in the past, most clinicians use drug therapy to treat OCD patients, today treatment options are focusing on a combination of psychological therapy combined with drug therapy in an effort to address underlying problems causing the manifestation of OCD while still treating the symptoms of the disorder.
People with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder suffer from a wide variety of obsessions but, most people follow similar symptoms. Their symptoms included an obsessive continual thoughts that keeps recurring causing the person anxiety. People with OCD feel that they have not control of the obsession and compulsions. Then the compulsive act come into play to help ease the anxiety temporarily. Some common obsessions fearing germs, constantly checking locked doors and
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V) explains the criteria for OCD. OCD is considered to be an anxiety disorder in the DSM V. Obsessions are defined as experiencing recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses and urges, and can be invasive and unasked for which then cause noticeable distress and anxiety for the individual. The individual will try to ignore the unwanted thoughts and urges or they may try to neutralise them via
Obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder described by irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive tasks (compulsions) (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder, 2013). When a person has obsessive-compulsive disorder, they may realize that their obsessions aren't accurate, and they may try to overlook them but that only increases their suffering and worry. Eventually, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to ease your stressful feelings. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is often driven by a reason, cause, or fear for example, a fear of germs. To calm the feeling of this fear, a person may compulsively wash their hands until they're sore and chapped. Despite their efforts, thoughts of obsessive-compulsive behavior keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior and a brutal cycle of obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder, and is diagnosed nearly as often as asthma and diabetes (Who We Are, 2012). In the United States, one in 50 adults suffers from OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder affects children, adolescents, and adults. About one third to one half of adults with OCD report a childhood onset of the disorder, they felt these anxieties but were not diagnosed or felt no need to be diagnosed until the compulsions over whelmed them (Who We Are, 2012). The phrase obsessive compulsive has been used to describe excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated person. While
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD causes people to suffer in silence and secrecy and can destroy relationships and the ability to work. It may bring on shame, ridicule, anger, and intolerance from friends and family. Although it has been reported in children, it strikes most often during adolescence or young adult years. The illness can affect people in any income bracket, of any race, gender, or ethnic group and in any occupation. If people recognize the symptoms and seek treatment, OCD can be controlled.
Obsessive – Compulsion disorder is again another type of anxiety disorder characterized by repeated or uncontrollable thoughts and compulsions that seem to be impossible to stop or control. People that have OCD often do things such as washing their hands, checking, counting, and cleaning to avoid the obsessive thought. The causes of OCD are still being researched, but OCD is now being associated with neurobiology, but is no longer being associated with childhood experiences. OCD occupies 2 percent of the United States’ population in a given year. However OCD can be linked with other mental and physical disorders such as: depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD,) and some anxiety disorders.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, involves anxious thoughts or rituals one feels and can't control. . For many years, OCD was thought to be rare. The actual number of people with OCD was hidden, because people would hide their problem to avoid embarrassment. Some recent studies show that as many as 3 million Americans ages 18 to 54 may have OCD at any one time. This is about 2.3% of the people in this age group. It strikes men and women in approximately equal numbers and usually first appears in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. One-third of adults with OCD report having experienced their first symptoms as children. The course of the disease is variable. Symptoms may come
Obsessive compulsive disorder also known as OCD, is an anxiety disorder. People who have this disorder have repetitive thoughts and behaviors that they cannot control. A chemical imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin throws off communication in the brain. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (2015), it can also cause impulses that manifest through obsessions, ideas, and images. The next part of this disorder is compulsions. These are the behaviors that people who have this disorder perform in order to get rid of the uncontrollable thoughts and feelings.
Knowing what OCD is the first step in understanding the psychology of the disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over” (NIMH). The obsessive part of OCD is intrusive, repetitive thoughts the cause anxiety, and the compulsion part is the need to perform an act or ritual repeatedly. The obsession causes anxiety and the compulsion relieves the anxiety.