Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Description
About one out of every forty people will experience obsessive-compulsive disorder at some time in their lives. It occurs with equal frequency among men and women, all ages, and all ethnic groups. Many people with the disorder try to hide their condition from other people. Yet they are unable to avoid acting out their compulsions.
Most people with OCD have both obsessions and compulsions. Some people may have only obsessions or only compulsions. The extent to which OCD affects a person's daily life varies. Some people are barely bothered. Others are terribly troubled by their obsessions. They may spend a large part of the day carrying out their compulsive behaviors.
An obsession is an irrational thought that occurs again and again. As an example, a person might think, "My hands are dirty, and I must wash them again." The person's hands may be (and probably are) totally clean. Yet the person cannot get the thought out of his or her mind that the hands are still dirty.
Some typical obsessions include:
- Fear of dirt, germs, or contamination
- A desire to perform violence on other people
- A feeling of responsibility for other people's safety
- Fear of hitting a pedestrian with a car
- Excessive religious feelings
- Intense sexual thoughts
A compulsion is a particular behavior that is performed repeatedly to protect against an obsession. Some common compulsions are excessive washing (especially hand washing or bathing); housecleaning; and touching, counting, arranging, or hoarding objects. The patient may feel better while performing these actions. But that sense of satisfaction does not last long. Soon, the person will feel the need to do the action again.
- Anxiety disorder:
- An experience of prolonged, excessive worry about the circumstances of one's life.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy:
- A form of psychological counseling in which patients are helped to understand the nature of their disorder and reshape their environment to help them function better.
- Compulsion:
- A ritualistic behavior that is repeated again and again.
- Neurotransmitter:
- A chemical that occurs in the brain and that helps electrical signals travel from one nerve cell to another.
- Obsession:
- A troubling thought that occurs again and again and causes severe distress in a person.
For a person with OCD, a compulsive behavior is a form of protection. He or she feels that something terrible will happen if the behavior
is not repeated. The behavior may relieve stress for a short time, but it does not bring any kind of pleasure to the patient.
OCD is sometimes related to other emotional disorders. For example, some people feel a constant urge to pull hair out of their bodies. Others are constantly afraid of catching some terrible disease. Still others worry that there is something wrong with the way their bodies look. OCD is often linked with depression (see depressive disorders entry) and other anxiety disorders.
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