What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive compulsive disorder can be described as a disorder of the psychiatric anxiety, where the patient suffers from obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and compulsion which are actually an attempt towards neutralizing these obsessions.
According to the criteria set by DSM-IV-TR (2000), obsessive compulsions are described as “recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and which cause marked anxiety or distress” or “the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems” or “repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.”
In our daily lives, we come across many people who are worried, doubtful or superstitious. But in a person suffering from Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), the above mentioned issues take over their lives completely. Then we get to see these people getting obsessed with small things like washing hands all the time, obsessive cleaning, keeping things right at their places all the time, every minute of the day etc.
however, it is extremely important to identify the difference between OCD and people who are merely fixated with a particular thing or have a knack for perfection. For a person to be diagnosed with OCD should be suffering from obsessions and compulsions both. The person suffering from these compulsions and obsessions will have all of his time taken up in these actions only. Thus, OCD can become distressful, cause social and occupational impairment and may further lead to depression.
Causes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
OCD can happen to anyone at any time of their life, though it is commonly seen to begin at or before middle age, while cases have also been noticed where OCD starts in childhood. The exact cause of the disease is not known, however it is observed that OCD has a tendency to be genetic or inherited. Biological changes in the brain lead to the changed functioning of the brain’s thought generation and thus the action performed.
According to the research so far performed by the scientists on the OCD, it is seen that in OCD, the frontal lobe of the brain and its deeper structures are faulty. Serotonin, which is a very important chemical messenger in this part of the brain, when found in insufficient levels might become the cause of the development of OCD in a person. Thus, unlike the common perception that the disease is only in the mind of the person, the fact it, it has biological origins, and is actually rather associated with the brain rather than the mind.
The cause for this deficiency might be a throat infection (from streptococcus bacteria), which results in the body’s immune system to start working against certain chemicals and body parts.
Signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
An obsession occurs when the person experiences certain thoughts and impulses repetitively. These obsessions may vary from their object of obsesson. It can be absolutely anything like dirt, germs, illness, and harming someone you love. The person affected with this would be feeling traumatized and thus a general feeling of depression settles in within him.
Some other emotions that might affect the people suffering from OCD are a feeling of disgust, gear, panic and doubt. In case of compulsions that the person suffers from, there becomes a defined set of codes and the way the action has to be performed, that when not performed causes extreme distress to the person.
Some of the most common compulsions faced by people suffering from OCD are: grooming rituals, cleaning, tidying, checking switches and locks, counting and arranging, collecting objects, repeating the same action over and over until it feels just right etc.
Treatment Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
A recently developed branch of medicine called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has shown great promises in the treatment of OCD. It involves teaching the patient about the problem he is suffering from and then teaching him to adapt to the behavior and learn to cope with the obsessive feelings.
This therapy helps in the prevention of other problems like depression and unemployment. The treatment for other psychological diseases can also be incorporated in this therapy. It is seen that people administered with this type of treatment saw a reduction of 60 to 60 percent in the symptoms. Administration of drugs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and Prozac (fluoxetine)), which increase the level of serotonin in the brain can also help in the treatment of OCD.
