Essay on Far Beyond Everyday Superstitions

Obsessive compulsive disorder, or ODC when shortened, is an anxiety disorder in which the sufferer has many unwanted obsessions often with many repetitive compulsions. The National Institute of Mental Health says “People with OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals.” People suffering from this disorder are frequently washing their hands and keeping things in order. While the exact cause of this disorder is still unknown to scientists. This disorder is believed to have its roots in psychological problems often developed during childhood. Obsessive compulsive disorder is a problem that can be found almost all places around the globe and can be found in almost

This essay will introduce some similarities and differences between both symptoms and experiences of six different authors who have been personally affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Since OCD is not very well understood by many members of the public ("Escape"), I hope that the experiences of the authors that I researched will be able to paint a vivid picture of what life with OCD is like.

OCD is also considered to be genetic. If a parent or sibling is diagnosed with OCD, there is a twenty-five percent chance that it can be passed along. Before diagnosing a patient with OCD, a physician will have some blood tests done to rule out any other medical illness that can cause symptoms of OCD or to ensure that no illegal drugs are the cause of the issue. Once these issues are ruled out, physicians rely on a questionnaire that is gone over with the patient. In order to be diagnosed with OCD, a person must have obsessions, compulsions, or both that affect their work, relationships, or daily life. These issues normally need to last at least an hour a day for it to be classified as

His findings were supported by Thomsen (1994) who found that the brain structure of 24 patients from OCD-like familial structures did not differ substantially from patients with severe mental illnesses. Even though the Adams and Thomsen studies raise a fair point, of all the studies done on the correlation of OCD and families, a majority of them support genetic transmission (Nestadt et al, 2010). Therefore, OCD is more likely to be caused by heredity and genetics than family structures.

Obsessive-compulsive disorders can begin in childhood or adolescence and can affect a person at any age. The older a person gets the more likely it may be for them to develop OCD symptoms. The average age of onset for this illness is age seven. Symptoms may be active within a child but they may be too embarrassed or confused about their fear and keep to themselves. Kids who suffer from this illness are unable to hide the rituals and constantly think about their obsessions. It may not be easy for the doctor or parents to be able to tell if their child has OCD unless the child has informed them or they notice ritual like behavior.

The anxiety (nervousness) of this disorder causes the individual to feel the urgent need to perform certain routines or rituals (compulsion) (Chakraburtty, 2009). For example, a person who has an unreasonable germ fear constantly washes their hands (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent or make the obsessive thoughts go away (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals that are performed are temporarily the person will perform the rituals again once his or her obsessive thoughts return (Chakraburtty, 2009).

In medieval Europe, religion was an important facet of life. It was vital that people belonged to a faith and worshipped. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, however, the Christian church began seeing people as worshipping incorrectly or worshipping things other than God. The Church, seeing this as superstition, decided to take action. Why was the Church so concerned over what they considered superstition, and how did it affect the people living during this time? During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Christian authorities grew increasingly concerned over superstition due to a fear of demons and worry that it would corrupt Christian society, which overall decreased the spiritual quality of life.

This is OCD. I observed some of his rituals such as locking the door five times, turning on the bathroom light five times, washing his hands with extremely hot water, and with a

The main focus was an evaluation of the impact prison has on a person’s tendency to behave violently. More specifically, the two major topics evaluated were the role solitary confinement has on violence among prisoners, and violence in prisoners that have been previously diagnosed as schizophrenic. In one empirical article evaluated, Association of Violence With Emergence of Persecutory Delusions in Untreated Schizophrenia (Keers, Ulrich, DeStavola, and Coid, 2014), researchers set out to study the prevalence in violence among schizophrenic prisoners during their time in prison and after their release. They also the presence of psychosis or delusions in the subjects during the time of their violent act. The researchers sought to compare the

In the essay “In Defense of Superstition”, begins with an anecdote of someone going to the airport on Friday the 13th, claiming, “Will you still take the flight will all the omens screaming you shouldn’t?” Friday the 13th has been known to be a truly unfortunate day worldwide and despite this person doing all these superstitions will they be safe? Although there’s no scientific basis of superstitions being real, its not harmful to believe in them. It’s only unhealthy if you’re putting all of your faith in that single ideology; this notion can be compared to religion. Religious followers degrade others for not believing in religion and if they do, they disgrace them for not believing it “right”. They believe everything they say is right and

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.

toward a family member. About 65% of the people with OCD have one of these problems.

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.

Nestled in between two countries is a great gorge, a river flowing through the bottom. The sides are made of rock and they reach their rigid hands up to the sky. When the sun falls, pinks, purples, and oranges paint over the landscape. It looks almost mystical.