Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

1183 Words3 Pages

A woman describes that she has an intense fear of germs. She constantly gets random thoughts about developing an illness or disease by touching things around her. As a result, she washes her hands repeatedly because it reduces the anxiety that she feels about her fear. After a while, her fear comes back and she starts her ritual of washing her hands repeatedly again. This person is most likely affected by OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted and uncontrollable thoughts (obsessions) and/or repeating certain behaviors over and over again (compulsions) (Baldridge). OCD affects both men and women equally and it affects about two percent of the population (Britannica.com). Living with OCD is challenging and it affects the life of the person who is suffering, their family, and even their friends. The exact cause of OCD is not known, but there are certain factors that contribute to developing the symptoms of the disorder such as genetics, cognitive, biological, and environmental factors (Merril). There are two diagnostic symptoms of OCD: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are images or ideas that uncontrollably run through a person’s head that a person may find annoying because it is difficult to shake off (nimh.org). Some examples of obsessions that a person may experience are excessive fear of germs or contamination, constant checking and rechecking, unwanted sexual thoughts or feelings, and concern about symmetry and order (nimh.gov). In order to get rid of the obsessive thoughts, sufferers perform certain behaviors repeatedly. These repetitive actions are called compulsions (familydoctor.org). Doing certain things temporarily gets rid of their distress about their obsessions. But, when the thoughts come back, they repeat their rituals all over again . People with OCD feel that they must perform these rituals

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810 Words | 2 Pages
Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) - is characterized by persistent, uncontrollable and unwanted feelings or thoughts (obsessions) and routines or rituals (compulsions) in which individuals engage to try to prevent or rid themselves of these thoughts. In example of common compulsions include washing hands or cleaning repeatedly for fear of germs.
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1322 Words | 3 Pages
OCD is broken down into two components the obsession and the compulsion. The first component; obsession is when an individual is consistently having these reoccurring thoughts or images about a certain problem or issue in their life. For example; an individual that has OCD can have a constant thought or image about getting sick or dying from the various germs or diseases that people contract every day. So this individual goes to the extreme to make sure that they do not contract any of these germs or diseases. That is when the compulsive component begins. This is when the individual takes these extreme actions to protect themselves from whatever they have these high anxiety feelings about. So continuing using the same example; this individual will consistently clean their homes every day for several hours at a time. They tend to clean their hands several times when out in public and are very tedious about where they go and what they touch while in public. They are also very caution about how they interact with other people. They just take extra steps to protect themsel...
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926 Words | 2 Pages
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder which causes people to develop an anxiety when certain obsessions or compulsions are not fulfilled. OCD can affect both children and adults with more than half of all adults with OCD stating that they experienced signs as a child. People living with OCD display many obvious signs such as opening and closing a door fifty times because they have to do it “just right”. Others exhibit extreme cleanliness and will wash their hands or take showers as often as they can because they constantly feel dirty. OCD devastates people’s social lives as they are fixated and obsessed with perfection that can take forever to achieve. However people living with OCD are often found to have an above average intelligence and typically excel at school due to their detail oriented mindset, cautious planning and patience. OCD can be caused by many different factors such as genetics or the ever changing world a...
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1616 Words | 4 Pages
Some symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are fear of germs, perfectionism, and rituals. When someone has OCD they are afraid of germs and might constantly be washing their hands or cleaning their room. Someone who suffers from OCD needs everything to be perfect and they might organize their closet by color size. Their rituals calm their anxiety. Certain rituals are things such as checking the stove a certain number of times to make sure it is off or tap their finger a number of times just because it makes them feel better. Obsessive compulsive disorder can be associated with other mental disorders that cause stress and anxiety, but it can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and medication.
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Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
989 Words | 2 Pages
For a person to be diagnosed with OCD, they need to have both an obsession and a compulsion. An obsession is best defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges or images that are experienced during the disturbance as intrusive and unwanted. While compulsions are defined by: repetitive behaviours such as hand washing, ordering, checking in which the person feels they feel strongly compelled to perform in response to their obsession The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The most empirically sound method of treatment is called Exposure response prevention (Himle & Franklin, 2009). This will be the psychological method of treatment discussed.
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1098 Words | 3 Pages
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by unreasonable thoughts, fears, and obsessions that lead you to do repetitive behaviors or compulsions. Living with OCD is like remembering every little thing you need to do for that week, every second of the day, every hour of the day, every minute of the day and all at once. One to two percent of the population in The United States suffers from OCD which is roughly 1 to 2 million people. ("How Many People Have OCD?)
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992 Words | 2 Pages
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1189 Words | 3 Pages
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1242 Words | 3 Pages
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759 Words | 2 Pages
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2260 Words | 5 Pages
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Anxiety Disorders : Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Treatment Plan for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)