Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
"I couldn't do anything without rituals. They invaded
every
aspect of my life. Counting really bogged me down. I would wash my hair
three times as opposed to once because three was a good luck number and
one wasn't. It took me longer to read because I'd count the lines in a
paragraph. When I set my alarm at night, I had to set it to a number
that wouldn't add up to a "bad" number.
"Getting dressed in the morning was tough because I had
a
routine, and if I didn't follow the routine, I'd get anxious and would
have to get dressed again. I always worried that if I didn't do
something, my parents were going to die. I'd have these terrible
thoughts of harming my parents. That was completely irrational, but the
thoughts triggered more anxiety and more senseless behavior. Because of
the time I spent on rituals, I was unable to do a lot of things that
were important to me.
"I knew the rituals didn't make sense, and I was deeply
ashamed of them, but I couldn't seem to overcome them until I had
therapy."
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, involves anxious
thoughts or
rituals you feel you can't control. If you have OCD, you may be plagued
by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to
engage in certain rituals.
You may be obsessed with germs or dirt, so you wash your hands
over
and over. You may be filled with doubt and feel the need to check
things repeatedly. You may have frequent thoughts of violence, and fear
that you will harm people close to you. You may spend long periods
touching things or counting; you may be pre-occupied by order or
symmetry; you may have persistent thoughts of performing sexual acts
that are repugnant to you; or you may be troubled by thoughts that are
against your religious beliefs.
The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and
the
rituals that are performed to try to prevent or get rid of them are
called compulsions. There is no pleasure in carrying out the rituals
you are drawn to, only temporary relief from the anxiety that grows
when you don't perform them.
A lot of healthy people can identify with some of the symptoms
of
OCD, such as checking the stove several times before leaving the house.
But for people with OCD, such activities consume at least an hour a
day, are very distressing, and interfere with daily life.
Most adults with this condition recognize that what they're
doing is
senseless, but they can't stop it. Some people, though, particularly
children with OCD, may not realize that their behavior is out of the
ordinary.
OCD afflicts about 3.3 million adult Americans.1It
strikes men and women in approximately equal numbers and usually
first appears in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood.2
One-third of adults with OCD report having experienced their first
symptoms as children. The course of the disease is variable-symptoms
may come and go, they may ease over time, or they can grow
progressively worse. Research evidence suggests that OCD might run in
families.3
Depression or other anxiety disorders may accompany OCD,2,4 and
some people with OCD also have eating disorders.6
In addition, people with OCD may avoid situations in which they might
have to confront their obsessions, or they may try unsuccessfully to
use alcohol or drugs to calm themselves.4,5 If
OCD grows severe enough, it can keep someone from holding down a job or
from carrying out normal responsibilities at home.
OCD generally responds well to treatment with medications or
carefully targeted psychotherapy.
The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and
the
rituals performed to try to prevent or get rid of them are called
compulsions. There is no pleasure in carrying out the rituals you are
drawn to, only temporary relief from the anxiety that grows when you
don't perform them.
This information comes from the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH)
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