OCD

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Recommended: Dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder that causes extreme anxiety categorized by intrusive thoughts and strong impulses. The obsessions in OCD are the reoccurring, intrusive thoughts. These thoughts cause the individual with OCD to become incredibly anxious. The compulsiveness in OCD is an action one is driven to perform to reduce the anxiety associated with the obsessions. OCD has many different causes, types, and treatments. Studies suggest about one percent of the population suffers from OCD. OCD has different perspectives that attempt to explain the causes of the disorder and why they affect the afflicted individuals. The different perspectives are the biological, behavioral, cognitive, and infection perspectives, each with their own ideas on treatment. Like most psychological disorders, the exact cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mystery. Scientific research has been used to determine possible causation of OCD. The biological perspective, the leading perspective to explain OCD, looks for physical evidence to determine the reasoning and treatment of a disorder. For OCD, the biological perspective shows evidence of a physical background for the causation such as genetics and an imbalance of chemicals. While there is evidence of a genetic influence over the disorder, OCD is not determined by genetics alone. Twin studies have shown that if one twin has OCD, then the other twin's risk of having OCD 45- 65%. If OCD was determined solely on genetics, then both twins would always have the disorder. The other biological cause of OCD is the brain's chemistry. The brain's chemistry relies on serotonin to communicate between the different sections of the brain. Because OCD responds well to serotonin increasing med... ... middle of paper ... ...e compulsion is the constant reassurance that the event is not possible. This can be by repeatedly checking that the door is locked or the stove is off. The individual goes out of their way to reassure themselves which calms the anxiety. Even after the person has checked, they may go back to constantly reassure that they are safe. Some may have a specific number of times they need to check. Symmetry and exactness is the obsessive need for objects to be in a certain way. People with this type of OCD have a standard for certain objects that must be followed to avoid anxiety. The exactness type,This standard can vary from color, size, numbers, or any ideal need the individual may have. The symmetry and exactness types are similar but, the exception relies on the specific standard accompanying the symmetry type which, universally has the need for objects to be balanced.

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