Having Intrusive Thoughts That You Just Seem To Not Be

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).

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

Helping others manage chronic anxiety and unwanted obsessive thoughts can be difficult, especially since symptoms of loved ones are easy to overlook.

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).

OCD is a brain disorder that may be caused by incorrect information processing. The three areas in the brain that are looked at are the Orbitofrontal cortex ,which is located in the prefrontal cortex above the eye, the caudate nucleus located near the basal ganglia, and the anterior cingulate cortex located in the front of the corpus callosum. Kring et al., (2014 ) states, the activity in these three places increase when people with OCD are shown objects that provoke symptoms. Other factors such as genetic, behavioral, environmental, and cognitive factors can trigger the disorder in an individual . It is not known which specific gene is inherited, but if a family member has OCD, their is a chance a child can have it. "Children who have family members with OCD have a greater chance of developing OCD early in life". (psychguides.com) One might have been conditioned as a young child to fear or become obsess by learning from ones' parent, which is the behavioral factor . The environmental factor can be caused because of a traumatic experience such as getting an illness like the flu. This type of traumatic experience can trigger OCD in a person in order to prevent from getting the illness again. The cognitive factor can cause individuals not knowing when to stop their obsessive thoughts and behaviors. According to Kring et al., (2014), people with OCD suffer in having a deficit in knowing when to stop their thoughts and behavior. They fail to gain the internal sense of completion , which it is defined as

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

Because victims of OCD realize their obsessive thoughts and behaviors are senseless and unnecessary, they may try to hide their problem. They fear people will think they are "crazy" or silly, and they may feel that they're all alone. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. OCD affects as many as 2 percent of all Americans. Research indicates that, like depression and bipolar disorder, OCD is caused by an imbalance of the neurotransmitter called serotonin. This brain chemical, one of many that

Worries, doubts, superstitious beliefs- all are common worries of everyday life. However, when they become excessive, or make no sense at all, then a diagnosis is made. In OCD, it is as though the brain gets stuck on a particular thought or urge and just can’t let go, no matter how hard they may try. OCD is a medical brain disorder that causes problems in information processing (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation [OCD Foundation], 2000).

Darcy’s first recollection of having obsessions occurs when her grandmother died this was also shortly before her father relocated the family to a big city where the compulsions began. Her grandmother’s death is a very plausible cause to her OCD because it made her feel lonely and full of grief which carried over to her adjustment into a completely new and different environment. The emotions of grief and loneliness could’ve caused her obsessions to develop as a result of her new fears of experiencing more grief and loneliness. These new obsessions eventually led to compulsions to prevent her fears from ever coming true. This can be seen in the idea that her obsessions focus on not doing anything socially unacceptable. It is very common that a tragic event in one’s death can lead to the result of obsessions. In order to treat Darcy’s case of OCD, I would recommend addressing the issue of her grandmother’s death with Darcy in order to help her cope and come to acceptance. I would recommend this because it is clear that her grandmother’s death had a huge impact on her life and was something that she was never able to properly address which the relocation of her family can be partially blamed for. After Darcy had come to terms with grandmother’s death, I would then recommend exposure therapy paired with cognitive behavioral therapy. Many studies pertaining to OCD have shown that the pairing of exposure therapy with CBT is very effective with the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder. I believe that the same results would be produced in this case if it was use. In this case, exposure therapy would be used to expose Darcy to death and to show her that it is inevitable rather than the result of something that Darcy did wrong. After being exposed to this concept, it is then crucial to use CBT to change Darcy’s misconceptions

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.

Obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind of a person with OCD. These are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. A sufferer will almost always obsess over something which he or she is most afraid of. Common ideas include persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable concern with becoming contaminated, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated -- I must wash them" or "I may have left the gas on" or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts tend to be intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Sometimes the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness. People with OCD who obsess over hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to by themselves. With these reoccurring obsessions continuously being played in the sufferers mind, they start performing repetitive acts that reassure them that their hands aren’t dirty, or the gas for the stove is turned of. This response to their obsession is called a compulsion.

OCD became my only friend. It assured me that my life was together. It gave me something to think about when I was bored. It kept me from accepting my unsettling reality. OCD has a strange stigma in today’s society: just an impulse to keep things neat and tidy. However, the reality is that the disorder occurs when a person has lost control of her life. This control is then found in material objects. Given my severe state, recovery would be a challenge. I could either opt to take powerful medications or I could try alternate therapeutic

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.