Facing Reality Research Paper

My mind is telling me it is not actually there until I count and see that the object is still in the same place. Lastly, if I have an important document or something that is very valuable I will have to stare at it until I can talk myself into knowing I still have the object. Sometimes I have to confirm what I see with my close friends to put my mind at ease faster, yes I understand this is odd, but I get bad anxiety if I do not follow these traditions. I am not exactly sure why or when these habits started but it seems the more I follow what my head is telling me then the worse my own tics get. My behaviors put me at ease but also bring anxiety and anger, because I know it is not normal and to a certain extent I can control these traditions but in reality, overall I cannot and that adds a greater anxiety. I try and not let a lot of people realize or know about my OCD habits because like Sedaris I do not want them to perceive me for being a strange person because I am not. Another thing is I like having assurance and control but over time it seems the tics are starting to control me instead of me controlling them.

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.

Like stated in “A Plague of Tics” by David Sedaris, “A person had to do these things because nothing was worse than the anguish of not doing them.” A “normal” individual might argue, “Why not just stop focusing on that and stay positive instead?” To a “normal” individual that might seem realistic but it’s not so for someone like me. We all experience an innumerable amount of thoughts throughout the day, but the issue arises when one thought becomes recurring and more and more prominent in your thoughts. In a combination of anxious thoughts and my OCD, I can find myself entertaining the same thought for hours on end. This fixation on my anxious worries is what often at times causes me to choose stressing over sleeping. I’ve found myself thinking about one thing at 10pm and have that thought carry over until 4am when I can finally convince myself it’s just an unrealistic worry. What was that thought? It was whether I had bubbled my ID number in correctly on my scantron. Looking back I know that it’s ridiculous because I always check my scantron multiple times before I hand it in just to make sure I didn't make a mistake. Even after checking my scantron five times I still feel the urge to check again so I have to force myself to hand it in and trust myself. In the moment these things don't seem irrational. The over-focusing on thoughts and the rechecking of things seem like logical conclusions just to make sure I didn’t mess up. I mean everyone makes mistakes right? It’s sometimes hard to draw the line where it becomes obsessive. Like in the essay, I too find myself succumbing to my OCD because ignoring it would cause even more distress than I already am

Specify if: Tic-related: The individual has a current Such as, inflated sense of responsibility and the tendency to overestimate threat; perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty; and over-importance of thoughts. Those who have OCD can vary in insight, either good or fair insight, poor insight or even absent insight/delusional beliefs. It is common for those who have OCD to avoid people, places, and things that trigger obsessions and compulsions. Those with OCD have varied obsessions and compulsions, such as, contamination obsessions and cleaning compulsions, fears of harm to oneself or others and checking compulsions or hoarding. Those with OCD become distracted for a certain amount of time, impairing them from continuing their daily activity until they neutralize their obsession and

According to the DSM-IV-TR, people with OCD suffer from recurrent obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions, defined as "persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress" (Criterion A.1), which are difficult to dismiss, despite their disturbing nature. These experiences are more intrusive than excessive worries about real-life problems, and they are unlikely related to these kinds of problems. (Criterion A.2). Persons who suffer from OCD try to ignore, suppress or neutralize their obsessions with some other thought or action (Criterion A.3) and recognize that they are a product of their own mind (Criterion A.4).

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) usually begins in adolescence or young adulthood and is seen in as many as 1 in 200 children and adolescents. OCD is characterized by recurrent intense obsessions and/or compulsions that cause severe discomfort and interfere with day-to-day functioning. Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are unwanted and cause marked anxiety or distress. Frequently,

OCD is “characterized” by two symptoms called obsessions and compulsions (Treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, 2009, p.4). Obsessions create anxiety from “intrusive and unwanted thoughts” (Solomon & Grant, 2014, p.646). The most common obsessions include “repeated thoughts about contamination, repeated doubts, a need to have things in a particular order, aggressive or horrific

Obsessive compulsive disorder, also know as ODC, is a complex mental illness that involves repeating thoughts know as obsessions and repeating actions know as compulsions (Parks 8). OCD affects males and females of all types (Parks 8). According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately one-third of OCD cases in adults begin in the childhood stages (Chong and Hovanec 11). Scientists believe that OCD is related to a faulty brain circuitry that could possibly be hereditary (Parks 9). Theories based on more recent studies show that OCD is a biological brain defect (Sebastian 32). It affects the frontal lobes of the brain (Ken and Jacob 1). Many OCD symptoms have been recorded since the 15th century (Sebastian 21). By the 19th century, science had developed more and explained that OCD was a mental and emotional disorder instead of supernatural forces (Sebastian 29). OCD is two times more common of a disease than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (Ken and Jacob 1). There are three forms of OCD. The three forms are episodic, continuous, and deteriorative. Episodic OCD has recurring episodes of illness lasting for a limited time.

4. 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 definition of Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is typically defined by the disorders characteristics. The characteristics of OCD are obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions often manifest from unreasonable beliefs, thoughts, and fears. Compulsions often manifest in the form of ritualistic behaviors. Mayoclinic.org explains that individuals with OCD can have one of the other where the issues of compulsions or obsessions are concerned (Diseases and Conditions). “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder” written by Gyula Bokor, MD, and Peter D. Anderson further distinguishes OCD by stating that “(OCD) consists of a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control to the degree that flexibility, openness, and efficiency are impaired” (2014, p. 117). There are a number of disorders that are comorbid to OCD, meaning in the presence of one or more disorder. Bokor and Anderson state that often times Tourette’s syndrome and Tic disorders are a frequent comorbidity with OCD (2014, p. 117). Psychotic disorders like schizophrenia has been reported a comorbidity of OCD. Bokor and Anderson state that the mental composition of a patient with OCD can lie in comorbidity with numerous psychiatric disorders as well like panic disorder, social phobia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (2014, p. 118). The National Institute of Mental Health’s website explains that there are a number of treatments for OCD. The two most predominant forms of

People with OCD usually have considerable insight into their own problems. Most of the time, they know that their obsessive thoughts are senseless or exaggerated, and that their compulsive behaviors are not really necessary. However, this knowledge is not sufficient to enable them to stop obsessing or the carrying out of rituals.

Overview and Introduction to OCD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), is defined simply as, unwanted thoughts, and actions that cause anxiety, or impairment, in relationships, and in society (Bruce, Arthur & Jongsma, 2011 pVIII). The most common types of OCD are: Checking, which refers to an intrusive thought that if one does not check, for example, stove knobs, or if the lights are off, that something bad may occur (Ian Osborn, 1998). This leads one to the compulsion to check such things, and in doing so relieves the anxiety one may have about the irrational fear, and prevents something bad from happening (Ian Osborn, 1998). The next type of OCD is contamination, which is the fear that illness or contamination will eventually lead to severe illness or the death of oneself or loved one (Ian Osborn, 1998). In order to relax such fears people with contamination OCD repeatedly clean and wash

On face value, my life would be described as easy. A loving family, supporting friends, a good head on my shoulders, and a bright future. But under that bright cover, a dark secret loomed. An octopus-like monster wrapped its tentacles around my psyche. Its name: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It makes me feel satisfied and relieved knowing that I have control over almost everything that I do and I can make it as neat, and equal as possible. I truly believe that my OCD has also made me more organized, efficient, and overall a smarter person due to the obsessions of making sure everything is “perfect”. There is almost never a mistake that I have made that I did not notice and fix before it turned into a disaster. When I was about thirteen years old, I newly found out about OCD and after going to the doctor’s office to get her opinion on my behaviour, she suggested that I might have this disorder. After watching numerous documentaries, I found myself saying “I do that too!” to many of the people and their symptoms and came to the conclusion that I have this disorder. I always wondered why it was considered a terrible thing to be obsessive-compulsive and why it was referred to as a disorder. Because the entire idea about being obsessive-compulsive is being orderly and doing things in an orderly manner, how can there be a disorder of order? I thought it was natural to live life in a systematic way, regardless of how that made you feel. But, OCD is like a monster inside your head; the more you feed it, the stronger and bigger it becomes. In my case, my monster was overly fed, and along with it came

Scientists know that there are certain genes that cause this disorder, but as of now, they haven’t been able to pinpoint the specific gene. It is believed that OCD is caused as a result of a problem with the chemicals that deliver nerve cells to the brain. When the nerve cells are unable to reach the brain, or there are not enough delivered to the brain, the person can begin to dwell on certain things, leaving them with a feeling of doubt and worry. There are some rare cases, where young children get OCD when they are recovering from Strep Throat. While this is extremely rare, the symptoms appear out of nowhere, and are extremely severe.