Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a potentially disabling sickness that may persist throughout a person’s life, and gone untreated may possibly worsen. OCD is a psychological disorder that one out of fifty adults currently suffer from, and at least twice that many have experienced at some point in their lives. When worries, doubts, or superstitious beliefs become excessive, then a diagnosis of OCD may be made. It is believed that the brain can become stuck on a particular thought or urge. When this happens, patients then begin to display characteristics associated with OCD. In layman’s terms, a person afflicted with OCD develops a case of the mental hiccups. These problems in information processing, or hiccups, were generally thought of as untreatable until the arrival of modern medications used with cognitive behavior therapy. These treatment methods still do not cure the disease, but they do make it a manageable condition. Research suggests that genes can play a role in the development of OCD. As of yet, no specific gene has been singled out {What is 1}. Studies have shown that children with parents who have OCD are more likely to develop symptoms themselves. These symptoms usually do not manifest themselves in the same manner in family members though. Other research also suggests that OCD could involve communication problems between all of the structures of the brain {What are 4}.

OCD is a disease that traps a person in a continuous pattern of repetitive and senseless thoughts and behaviors that are founded form the incorrect processing of information. These behaviors are extremely difficult for the patient to overcome and will eventually, if not treated, take over the person’s life and make them unable to interact with the rest of society in a productive manner. Afflicted people tend to fear uncertainty and are plagued by persistent and recurring thoughts or obsessions that they themselves even find disturbing. These thoughts usually reflect an exaggerated anxiety or fear that is associated with no reality-based cause. Many sufferers of this disease are compelled to perform specific routines or rituals to help ease the anxiety. This relief is only temporary though.

There are many obsessions that a normal person may experience in his life. The problem occurs when these obsessions result in very patterned, uncontrollable behaviors. It is possible to only have the obsessions or the behaviors, but that is more rare. Compulsions are intrusive thoughts, impulses, or images that feel out of control and occur over and over again {What is 1}. A sufferer usually does not want to have these ideas or images, knows that the ideas don’t make any sense, and finds these ideas very disturbing and intrusive. For example, a person with OCD may be obsessed with the idea that they are contaminated or that they may contaminate someone else. They also would probably worry excessively about dirt and germs. They also might have an intense fear that they harmed someone else, even though they know it is not realistically possible. Uncomfortable feelings such as fear, disgust, doubt, or a sense of perfection usually accompany such obsessions {What are 3}. A person will try to make these obsessions subside by compulsively performing certain rituals. These compulsive acts are performed repeatedly and usually according to a set of “rules” that the person has determined. These rituals provide a temporary sense of relief.

These rituals are an integral part of the disorder. Since they are only a temporary solution to the problem, the behaviors that provided the relief will be repeated over and over. They frequency of these acts will normally increase over time. Eventually, these acts can get to the point where they dominate all of the activities that a person must accomplish to just get through a day.

OCD symptoms can appear at any age. They have been seen from preschool to retirement. It is estimated that one-third to one-half of all adult sufferers first started having symptoms when they were in their childhood. On average, people spend about nine years seeking a diagnosis, while being treated by three to four doctors during this time. Studies show that it takes approximately seventeen years from the time the symptoms of OCD first begin to manifest themselves until an appropriate treatment has been found {What 3}. There are many different reasons why OCD may be under-diagnosed and mistreated. One of the largest hindrances is that many of the people that suffer from this disease are very secretive about their illness. This goes back to the fact that they think that it is their fault. They are afraid to ask someone for help initially. Many healthcare providers also may be unfamiliar with the symptoms of OCD. There is also a portion of the population that does not have access to treatment facilities. These hindrances only compound the problem