What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a fairly common anxiety disorder affecting 1 in 50 people in the United States. The name of the illness comes from the two key symptoms - obsessions and compulsions.
- Obsessions are unwanted thoughts, impulses or images that come from within the person, but seem out of one's control. Because the obsessions keep returning, they create a great deal of anxiety.
- Compulsions are repeated actions or rituals that the patient performs in an effort to relieve the anxiety caused by obsessions. For example, a common obsession a person with OCD might have is worrying about being contaminated with germs and getting sick; to ward off the anxiety, the person will perform rituals of frequent cleaning or handwashing. In the patient's mind, the rituals must be followed precisely-for example, washing one's hands not once before a meal, but a precise number of times that cannot be varied.
Common obsessions
Common compulsions
- Fear of contamination
- Repeated doubts
- Need for symmetry, order
- Aggressive impulses
- Sexual imagery
- Counting, checking
- Arranging things again and again
- Washing, cleaning
- Requesting, demanding assurances
- Repeating actions
- Persons with OCD understand that their compulsions only temporarily relieve the anxiety caused by the obsessions. As a result, they become trapped in a cycle of obsessions that make them feel anxious and compulsions that may make them feel embarrassed.
- People with OCD often have coexisting conditions that add to the psychological suffering they experience. About two-thirds of OCD patients experience clinical depression at least once in their lifetime. Social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia), eating disorders and repetitive physical twitching and vocal tics are also reported in people with OCD.
- As with panic disorder and depression, medical research has shown that an imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin may play a role in the development of OCD.