Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a long-term disorder characterized by uncontrollable, reoccurring, and often intrusive thoughts and behaviors. While it is common for people to think of OCD as a higher need to have things organized or clean, it goes much farther than that. Where it is natural to check to make sure the door is locked or to wash your hands a second time before cooking is natural, those with OCD find themselves repeating the ‘just to make sure’ routine up to an illogical amount of times and are unable to help themselves. That, or the ‘rituals’ they perform have no reasonable connection to what they fear could happen should it not be done, like opening and closing a door a number of times or else their mother could get sick and die.

‘Obsession’ is when those thoughts reoccur and take control of the theater of one’s mind, and ‘compulsion’ is when the individual of said thoughts are forced to act upon them. These compulsive rituals are also very time-consuming and can infringe on one’s ability to function. They often interfere with work, relationships, and overall well-being, and the reward the sufferer gets for completing said rituals is only temporary relief.

OCD often goes hand in hand with anxiety disorders and depression, as the obsessions and following compulsive behavior are fueled by apprehension, and the lack of control involved with controlling said behaviors can result in depression. Those with OCD are often quite aware of the irrationality of their actions but lack the control to do anything about it.

Anxiety and depression disorders share similarities with OCD in that they both involve lower than normal levels of serotonin, a chemical used for communications between neurons in the brain. Because of this, the medication used to treat anxiety and depression disorders is also used in the treatment of OCD, albeit at differing dosages and combinations. Medication is most effective when hand in hand with psycho cognitive therapy. Exposure therapy has proven to be especially effective, where the patient is forced to not go through with a ritual/compulsive behavior and exposed to the results in a controlled environment.

Positive social support is just as important as medication and therapy, some of which can come from on our helpful obsessive compulsion disorder forum found here. However, as always, a word of caution: while support can be easily found on OCD help websites online, they are by no means a replacement for a proper analysis from a trained and qualified psychologist.

As with many mental disorders, treatment is rarely instantaneous. If you or someone you know is in need of support while they work through an OCD, we also have obsessive-compulsive disorder depression forums focused to help sufferers know they are not alone and that OCD can be conquered. Alongside our forums is our OCD chatroom community online for more instant communications.

Disclaimer: this article, although well researched, is not written by a medical professional and should, by no means, be used to replace proper diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner.

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