OCD: A Serious Disorder

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

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).

OCD follows a pretty typical cycle, in which patients have obsessions that can become triggered, and when they become triggered, the patient feels anxiety. In order to combat that anxiety, they will try to relive it by creating behaviors, called compulsions. The compulsions temporarily provide relief until the obsessions are triggered again. There are a few common types of OCD:

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

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that is the fourth most common mental illness in the U.S. (8). OCD affects five million Americans, or one in five people (3). This is a serious mental disorder that causes people to think and act certain things repetitively in order to calm the anxiety produced by a certain fear. Unlike compulsive drinking or gambling, OCD compulsions do not give the person pleasure; rather, the rituals are performed to obtain relief from the discomfort caused by obsessions (2). OCD is more common than schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or panic disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (6). This disorder can be therapeutically treated, but not cured.

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 the acronym for obsessive-compulsive disorder (What is OCD?). OCD is a mental disorder that is not common, due to the fact that only 1.0% of the population has been diagnosed with OCD (Facts & Statist). “A person with OCD has obsessive and compulsive behaviors that are extreme enough to interfere with everyday life” (What is OCD?). These obsessions and

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 2 to 3 percent and is estimated to be the 10th leading cause of disability in the world. Patients with OCD experience recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive, stereotyped behaviors (compulsions) that last for at least one hour per day and significantly interfere with the individual 's normal level of functioning. The intrusive obsessional thoughts

"OCD patients have a pattern of distressing and senseless thoughts or ideas- obsessions- that repeatedly well up in their minds. To quell the distressing thoughts, specific patterns of odd behaviors- compulsions- develop." (Gee & Telew, 1999)

The caricature of OCD could be considered accurate on some level. The stigma and beliefs associated with OCD date back centuries and often intertwine with beliefs and teachings in the Catholic church. It is not limited to the Catholic church; however, it is commonly associated with the religion due to the larger scale of the religion and the approaches towards the disorder addressed by the Pope. Religious Scrupulosity is often associated with obsessions involving blasphemy, committing a sin, behaving morally, purity, going to hell, death, and a loss of one’s impulse control.

OCD plagues people with intrusive, unwanted thoughts or obsessions, which are rarely pleasant. People who have these obsessions recognize that they are senseless. Still, they are unable to stop them. They may worry about

Some types of OCD are: contamination, checking and repeating, symmetry and ordering, homophobia and sexuality, and hoarding. Contamination OCD has to deal with fear of germs. They are always worried about getting sick and fear if they get sick will they die from it or will they get someone else sick. Some of the obsession’s associated with Contamination OCD include excessive handwashing, bathing, washing items and surfaces and avoiding body contact with others. Checking and Repeating OCD is excessive checking of doors, locks, appliances, belongings, and seek reassurance from others that everything is okay. Some triggers that cause this are electrical appliances, doors and locks, phones, conversations, and candles. Triggers of Symmetry and Ordering are disorganized items and untidiness. Compulsions are to organize and placing the items at the perfect angle. Homophobia and Sexuality OCD triggers are other people of the same sex, homosexual content or situations such as TV shows, movies, and Gay Pride Parades. Their obsession is “What if I’m Homosexual?” Homophobia and Sexuality compulsions are avoiding relationships and same sex people, testing sexual attraction on opposite sex and seeking reassurance of heterosexual orientation. Hoarding OCD triggers are shopping facilities and printed materials. Compulsions are collecting or holding onto items that are of no use and have no apparent value. There is no cure for any of type of OCD but there is

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.

John’s treatment for his OCD disorder would consist of exposure therapy, medication, and complementary/alternative treatment. Treatments for OCD, by a medical doctor, configures a technique according to the persons’ medical diagnose as an option for treatment. “Most people who seek treatment experience significant improvement and enjoy an improved quality of life” (ADAA, 2010-2015). People who live with OCD seek medical assistance to move forward in life for a healthy well-being. Alice's treatment for her insomnia disorder would consist of exposure therapy, medication, and complementary/alternative treatment. Treatments for insomnia, by a medical doctor, configures a technique according to the persons' medical diagnose as an option for treatment.

Many people may think they have OCD simply because they have to have something in a certain order. While this may be a symptom of OCD, they usually don’t spend their whole day doing it over and over again. People who suffer from the disorder take their obsessions