What is obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD? OCD is a disorder of the brain and behavior that causes severe anxiety to those affected. These obsessions and compulsions, associated with this disease, can disrupt the days of the individual diagnosed with this disorder. OCD can get in the way with your day-to-day activities and it can make simple things much more difficult. In class a video was shown where a young women with OCD washes her hands so thoroughly that her skin has become discolored. She is so worried about germs that she uses her feet for most actions that require yours hands, like opening door handles and picking up items. These obsessions can be characterized by Thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again and feel out of the person’s control. They can also They come with uncomfortable feelings, such as fear, disgust, doubt, or a feeling that things have to be done in a way that is “just right.” Some common obsessions are fear of germs, fear of stealing things, fear of being responsible for something terrible happening such as a fire or burglary. One OCD case that I have observed is inability to decide to whether to keep or discard something. A close family member of mine experiences this. When trying to help throw out items she has had for years it quickly escalates to screaming and yelling. She has had cloths in her closets from when she was in her twenties. She is now 52. The items are cloths that no longer fit and outdated, but yet she cannot come to terms with the thought of the item being thrown out, or even give away. While going through her items, you could see her body language and see how tense she was at the fact that other people where touching her stuff and she wasn’t in control of what was staying and what was going. My family member to my knowledge has not been diagnosed but I am aware that she sees a therapist. She could have been diagnosed and decided to share that with us. OCD disorder is generally treated with medication such as anti-anxiety medication, and anti-depressants. Some medications can take up to 10 weeks to take effect, and have some nasty side affects. Another form of treatment is psychotherapy, specifically cognitive behavior therapy. This type of therapy gives the client a different way of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations that will help them when these compulsions take effect. For many individuals diagnosed with OCD has been traced back to their younger years. Most OCD starts during childhood and teen years. Symptoms can come and go and be better or worse. OCD currently affects 2.2 million American adults, and is a disorder that under the right care can be managed.
3 thoughts on “Trouble Parting the affects of OCD”
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On the topic of OCD I am reminded of a childhood memory of mine. Growing up, from around the age around 5 to 10 (a rough estimate) I had a distinct and strange habit. In convenience stores such as CVS or Walgreens I would always get annoyed at the shelves of candy bars and gums if there was any kind of disorder or lack of arrangement. This lead me to sort the items making sure none where displaced in the wrong array. I did this because the disorder made some part of my mind feel uneasy or uncomfortable, and I would feel continue feeling this way unless I acted. Often I would get comments from a cashier or other customers about the OCD nature of my habits. Furthermore growing up and even now I will be annoyed by dissymmetry or lack of orderliness with certain normal situations. Such as writing, sometimes I would write a word that looked sloppy, leading me to continually erase and rewrite the word until it seemed perfect, or at least perfect enough that it no longer gave me any discomfort in my mind. Another example is if I for whatever reason scratched one side of my head or face, many times I would feel uneven if I did not continue to scratch the opposite side of my head. I do not claim to have OCD, but just a few ticks growing up showing OCD nature. Despite the trivial nature of some these habits of mine that brought me a strange comfort, I never had the impulse to repeatedly continue to the point that it brought me severe distress or dysfunction; I have always felt majorly control of these habits. Just remembering some of these little habits of mine make me believe that, like some of these other comments insist, there are many cases of OCD that go unnoticed and undiagnosed.
OCD seems to be an issue that has many victims who never get a diagnosis. While for some people this may be okay, as their OCD is in a milder form, for others a diagnosis can be quite important. My best friend’s sister was diagnosed with OCD a couple of years ago, and her family found the diagnosis to be somewhat of a relief. Because they now understood a little bit more about what was going on, they were able to research and look into OCD. Their own understanding of the mental illness made it easier for them to cope with her sometimes frustrating obsessions and compulsions. They were also able to figure out how best to act around her and what to say that therapists would consider to be the most helpful ways to treat her. For their family, reaching a diagnosis led to much healing within.
I think that OCD is a disorder that is left undiagnosed in many individuals, simply because some people have the ability to control and live with their symptoms better than others. I also have a family member that experiences urges and has many obsessions. Before she leaves the house she has an entire ritual she needs to perform; first, she walks through the entire house, and checks to make sure all of the doors are locked. After that, she walks to the bedroom and has to check double check that our dog’s crate is completely shut. Then, she has to check that all of the lights are turned off. Once she goes through the ritual once, she often has to redo the entire thing. In many circumstances we are both running late for class and I try to get her to leave, but as soon as I say anything about the routine she gets extremely agitated. This is the primary situation in which I observe my family member’s OCD. I am not sure how many other things might go on during the day that trigger other compulsions and obsessions for her. However, she has never been formally diagnosed with or treated for OCD.