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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Basic Facts

The Anxiety Condition of Ritualistic Behaviors

Oct 12, 2009 Jim Lowrance

According to the National Institute of Mental Health in the U.S., obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects an estimated 2.2 million adults 18 years of age and older.

OCD often begins to develop in childhood according to the NIMH and is characterized by compulsive behaviors that are driven by obsessive thoughts or worries. In most cases, these concerns are exaggerated or irrational, but this does not diminish the effect this disorder can have on the daily lives of OCD patients.

Compulsive Behaviors

The behaviors or “acting out” aspect of OCD ranges between each individual suffering the disorder. For some, they develop an intense compulsion to recheck actions they have performed to make sure they were completed thoroughly and completely. Many sufferers become perfectionists in many things they do and harshly criticize themselves if they fail to complete a task to perfection.

People with OCD will often perform the same tasks repeatedly, until they feel they have completed them at a perfect level and only then will they allow their self to move forward.

These may include:

Not repeating an imperfect task until they are satisfied with their performance, which can cause them feelings of inward conflict resulting in severe anxiety symptoms or panic attacks.
Repeating simple tasks such as turning off light switches or water faucets fueled by obsessive worry that they were not turned off completely.
Unreasonable expectations of perfection for complicated tasks such as how they complete a college term paper, to avoid harsh self-criticism if they do not obtain a perfect score.

Phobias

Some OCD patients become phobic about things that concern them, such as contracting illnesses due to exposure to germs or being judged negatively if their home is not immaculately clean. This can develop into avoidance behaviors similar to those listed, following.

Not shaking hands with people or showing other physical affections toward loved ones or friends.
Feeling that their home is not perfectly-presentable for a visitor to see and not allowing anyone to enter their homes unless they feel the timing is perfect for doing so.
Believing something terrible might occur to them if they do not have food arranged a certain way on their plate or if the fringes on a rug in their living room are not all laying flat and straight on the floor.

While these types of compulsive behaviors are often seen as humorous on television shows, they can cause OCD patients to agonize and to develop chronic worries, causing them a diminished quality of life.

Frustrations

Another aspect of OCD is chronic frustration that can develop in OCD patients in the area of their communications when socializing with others. Patients with the disorder often feel they are not expressing themselves adequately. They feel the words they speak to others are not getting their thoughts across and they may begin to repeat phrases or words.

OCD patients may begin to replay conversations they’ve had with others repeatedly in their minds and will harshly criticize themselves for not having made certain statements or for not having worded their conversation differently. This can also result in avoidance behaviors and when this aspect or others (as described previously) become severe, patients may become fearful of leaving their homes, a development which is known as “agoraphobia."

Treatments

Anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications are often administered to OCD patients to help reduce their symptoms. For most, however, they also require psychiatric therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). These type therapies are designed to help patients with OCD to change their thought patterns over time and to respond to the urge to entertain obsessive thoughts with replacement thoughts that will divert them into a positive direction.

Exposure therapy may also become a part of the treatment, in which OCD patients are slowly but repeatedly exposed to things that have become phobias or compulsions to them, so that they can better cope and possibly overcome them over time.

Cited OCD Statistics Source: The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America - NIMH

The copyright of the article Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Basic Facts in General Medicine is owned by Jim Lowrance. Permission to republish Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Basic Facts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Anxiety Disorders