Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Now back in the mid-1960s OCD had yet to be categorized as a mental disorder normally the embarrassment when someone does these abnormal actions tends to

     While today, Freud’s theory behind OCD has been completely disproved, that was one of the first documented cases of the disease. According to Marc Summers’ book Everything In Its

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental disorder which it symptoms are having routines, or thoughts repeatedly with no ability to avoid the fear and stop them. Some people are aware of those habits, and they realize that those rituals do not make sense, but there is no an easy way to get out of them. Counting all the clothes, shoes, magazines and lie in in a straight line are illustrations when obsessive-compulsive symptoms arrive.

As time has progressed, light has been shed on the causes and symptoms of mental disorders. Like many mental disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder was once linked to dissociation with religious beliefs. In the seventeenth century OCD was seen as a symptom of being isolated from religion and religious practices. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that obsessive-compulsive disorder began to be recognized as a mental disorder unrelated to religion. The route to this recognition began as stated by Koran (2007) by distinguishing obsessions from delusions and compulsions from impulsions. The source of the disorder, however, was still a matter to be argued on. The idea that OCD was a result of any level of insanity was disregarded after the mid-eighteen hundreds. For the most part, French psychiatrists believed it was a result of an emotional distress and “volitional” defects but not before placing it in a very broad spectrum of many other phobias we see today. German Psychiatrists, on the other hand, associated OCD with an issue on the intellectual level and as Magnan (1835-1916) put it, OCD was the “psychosis of degeneration.”

After the tenth anniversary of Lady Macbeth’s passing, a secret interview revealing her struggles with mental health has surfaced. Most people are familiar with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and in modern society the warped perception of what it really means to have OCD continues to undermine the severity of the disorder. OCD is recognizing as a chronic disorder where a person has uncontrollable obsession’s, reoccurring thoughts and compulsions. These compulsions are almost always the product of some kind of fear, allowing the mind to obsess to an extreme extent. These compulsions are different for everyone, and are sometimes temporary.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder is a type of severe anxiety disorder that impacts an individual’s entire life and way of functioning. Obsessions are considered intrusive and recurrent thoughts or impulses that cannot be removed through reasoning. Compulsions are the repetitive and ritualistic behaviors and actions that associate with the obsessions. These compulsions are to be performed according to specific rules or methods and are thought to prevent or reduce stress and feared situations. Both compulsions and obsessions cause disabling levels of anxiety. The individual affected is often able to recognize the behavior as excessive and irrational, but is unable to control or stop the behaviors without intervention.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) was once considered a rare disease, but today, it is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders present among society. OCD is described as “intrusive thoughts or images (obsessions), which increase anxiety, and by repetitive or ritualistic actions (compulsions), which decrease anxiety” (Stein, 2002). In the DSM-IV, Obsessive compulsive disorder can be diagnosed through observable behaviours or repetitive mental habits. Symptoms include; the constant washing of hands, and/or fears concerning danger to others or to self – resulting in frequent paranoia. OCD has been linked with lesions in various neurological circuits of the brain due to the consumption of dopamine agonists (for example, cocaine). In order for obsessive compulsive disorder to take clinical significance, dysfunction and distress must follow symptoms. The treatment of OCD was initially developed in the Freudian era, as psychoanalytical treatment was seen as the most effective treatment at the time for mind management. Conversely, recent empirical evidence proved otherwise. Pharmacological therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy, also known as systematic desensitization are nowadays the most prominent remedies used in treating obsessive compulsive disorder.

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions or compulsions". ( Kring, Johnson, Davison,& Neal 2014) The obsession individuals with OCD experiences are excessive and it affects individuals with functioning normally in their everyday life. According to Kring et al., (2014 ) obsessions are intrusive and recurring thoughts, images, or impulses that are persistent and uncontrollable and often appear irrational to the person experiencing them. Compulsions are when someone has to do the same repetitive behavior in order to relieve distress of what is in their thoughts. People with this disorder also feel anxious and have other anxiety disorders. "Though OCD was considered a type of

According to the DSM-5, the compulsive behaviors are defined as, “Repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly. The behaviors are not a result of the direct physiologic effects of a substance or a general medical condition. The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation. However, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a way that could realistically neutralize or prevent whatever they are meant to address or they are clearly excessive.” Some examples would be hoarding, arranging objects, checking on things such as locks, touching/tapping objects, confessing/seeking reassurance, cleaning/washing, counting/repeating actions a certain number of times or until it "feels right", and list making.

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.

In a general view, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is associated with obsessions and compulsions. The obsessions are recurrent thoughts, fears, images, ideas, urges, and doubts. Patients suffering from this disorder often go through fluctuating episodes of compulsion which are in response to an obsessive thought, such as arranging, touching, repeatedly checking on something, and recurrent hand-washing. The patient experiences repeated rise in anxiety from the obsessions, that compels them to indulge in their compulsions as a form of relief (Brown University, 2013). Most of the patients suffering

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder that causes someone to have unwanted and troubling thoughts and repetitive behaviors (Lack, 2012). People may self-diagnose themselves to be obsessive compulsive. But people with obsessive compulsive disorder need to spend at least 1 hour daily on obsessive thoughts and rituals (Ellyson, 2014). This disorder is broken into two parts. The first part is obsessions, thoughts or images, and the second part is compulsions, the repetitive behaviors caused by the obsessions (Brakoulias, 2015). An example of obsessive compulsive disorder would be someone checking the locked door multiple times to reduce anxiety about forgetting to lock the door. On average 5% of the population has subclinical symptoms which are considered to be symptoms that are not disruptive enough to meet criteria to be diagnosed obsessive compulsive (Lack, 2012). Dropping what you’re doing to go back and check if your curling iron is unplugged is an example of a subclinical symptom. This paper will discuss what obsessive compulsive disorder is and provide a brief history. It will also include current treatments, suggestions on how to treat the disorder, and a summary.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is influenced by neurological factors with symptoms such as repeating steps, continuously washing their hands, and having a fear of objects like germs. Although there is no cure, there are treatments such as medication and therapy that can help lessen the patient’s anxiety and discomfort.

Symptom Picture Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, often known as OCD, is a persistent disorder, in which, consists of obsessions and compulsions (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). The diagnosis of the aforementioned disorder can consist of either obsessions or compulsions, and ordinarily both (Cromer, Kendall, Franklin, Hudson, & Pimentel, 2004). This brain-behavioral disorder is characterized by the interference it has on the daily aspects of an individual’s life (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Obsessions are not seen as in the individual’s control; instead they are repetitive impulses, thoughts, and images (Cromer et al., 2004). Compulsions are behaviors in which are recurrent and acted upon to calm the anxiety

The precise cause of OCD is still unidentified. Different psychological perceptions have projected theories which attempt to describe how OCD might progress. Psychoanalytic theory views obsessive ideation to be the consequence of repression (Emmelkamp, 1982). As the defense mechanism fails, repressed material is remembered, but it is altered before reaching consciousness and emerges in the form of obsessive thoughts. The classical conditioning of fear happens after a traumatic event, yet most OCD patients report that they cannot relate such an experience to the onset of OCD symptoms. If there was a trauma, it usually occurs at a time much earlier than the onset of OCD, which is not consistent with the operation of classical conditioning (Emmelkamp,