What is OCD? (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or as it’s commonly known as in short OCD is a chronic mental health condition that involves an obsession & compulsions or sometimes both at the same time. People that suffer from OCD will have extreme obsessions or think about unwanted thoughts that force them to repeat a certain action such as washing their hands. Doing the action that they are thinking about can start to bring comfort to the person as it will relieve the obsessive thought that was troubling them.
You shouldn’t mistake OCD as a superstition like wearing a lucky pair of socks to go watch a football game or double-checking if your door is locked before you leave the house. These habits help people feel more secure but it is not close to OCD. People that live with OCD have no personal matter in the choice but the obsessive thoughts that cloud their brain can seriously affect their everyday life in a negative way. People with OCD know that impulsive compulsions and repetitive thoughts that they live with are illogical but they will still act on them as it can ease their stress and stop their fears from becoming a reality.
The most common signs & symptoms of OCD
There are two main types of symptoms with OCD which are what we previously spoke about: obsessions and compulsions. Many individuals that currently suffer from OCD will commonly experience both obsessions and compulsions. The type of symptoms listed is not short-lived as even the mildest symptoms can last an hour which can seriously hamper day-to-day activities happening in your life.
OCD can hinder your attention span aswell meaning you can not focus in places such as work or school correctly and in some extreme cases obsessions and compulsions can stop you from attending these places. Many people with OCD recognise that the obsessive thoughts aren’t true or the behaviours that their compulsion is telling them to act on won’t do anything significant – the urge can become too great for them to stop.
We’ve broken down the two main types of Obsessive & Compulsions symptoms for you.
Obsessive
- Fear of germs and illness
- Worries about health
- Possessions must be perfectly aligned
- Fear of saying offensive comments
These types of thoughts are very strong and no matter how hard one battles against them often return frequently. Their very strong persistence can lead an individual to start believing they are in fact true if they don’t take the necessary actions in order to stop them from happening.
Compulsions
- Washing hands
- Organising objects in a very specific way
- Talk frequently
- Hiding objects used to harm yourself
- Counting to a specific number
- Going over actions you've taken
Compulsions usually will follow obsessions – once someone thinks heavily about an obsession, it will only be a matter of time before they take action on their obsession as a way to relieve the stress from overthinking. Individuals with OCD feel they will need to repeat said action a specific number of times and if they don’t they will repeat the said action again till they get it right.
What is the cause of OCD?
There is currently no known cause of why people suffer from OCD but there has been researched into someone’s family history playing a massive part. Individuals that have current close family members with OCD are at a much higher risk of having OCD than people who don’t.
Both irregular development and impatient in certain areas of people brain’s have been linked to OCD aswell. Scientific evidence shows that OCD is associated with how your brain reacts to serotonin. For those who do not know about serotonin, it is a neurotransmitter that helps control your mood and sleep plus it has many other very important functions that help your body throughout your everyday life.
Risk factors of OCD
There are many risk factors that can speed up the chances of developing the condition especially if you are genetically more likely to develop OCD.
If you have a massive amount of stress relating to what is happening either in your home, work or personal life then it can raise your chances of developing OCD as a matter to cope
Those who have suffered from heavy trauma in their personal life are at a higher chance of developing OCD.
There have been cases where the symptoms of OCD have shown for the first time after someone has suffered from a brain injury.
You must keep in mind that even if there is a family history of people having OCD and you have other risk factors, you still may never develop the condition yourself. OCD will often correlate with other types of mental health conditions which include ADHD, Tourettes, social anxiety and an eating disorder.
There is a very high risk that people who currently suffer from OCD have another mental health condition, the most common one being anxiety but that does not mean as well that you are likely to develop OCD if you have one of these mental health conditions.
OCD diagnosis options
If you are currently experiencing symptoms of OCD or know a loved one who currently is then it is best to seek out mental health professionals such as the ones here at Psychiatry Today who will be able to get you a clear diagnosis of what you are currently experiencing and then put you in touch with the right treatment options available to you.
We are not here to judge you but here to listen to your current symptoms with full compassion and then help you move forward with your life by addressing them. There are many different treatment options available for people out there with OCD and it is important getting a diagnosis as you will be able to find the correct treatment plan based on your individual personality and what suits you at this present moment in time. Not everyone is the same meaning there is just not one plan that treats everyone.