Read more about this disease, some with Classification – Types – Signs and symptoms – Genetics – Pathophysiology – Diagnosis – Screening – Prevention – Treatment and management – Cures and much more, some including pictures and video when available.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder most commonly characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts resulting in compulsive behaviors and mental acts that the person feels driven to perform, according to rules that must be applied rigidly, aimed at preventing some imagined dreaded event; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected to the imagined dreaded event.
According to the current epidemiological data, OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder and OCD is considered “nearly as common as asthma and diabetes mellitus.”[1] In the United States, 1 in 50 adults have OCD.[2] In severe cases, it affects a person’s ability to function in everyday activities. The disorder often has a serious impact on the sufferer’s (and his/her family’s) quality of life. Also, the psychological self-awareness of the irrationality of the disorder can be painful. For people with severe OCD, it may take several hours a day to carry out the compulsive acts.
Experts[who?] believe OCD may be related to levels of a normal chemical in the brain called serotonin. When the proper flow of serotonin is blocked, the brain’s “alarm system” overreacts. Danger messages are mistakenly triggered. Instead of the brain filtering out these unnecessary thoughts, the brain dwells on them—and the person repeatedly experiences unrealistic fears and doubts.
The phrase “obsessive-compulsive” has become part of the English lexicon, and is often used in an informal or caricatured manner to describe someone who is meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed in a cause, or otherwise fixated on something or someone.[3] Although these signs are often present in OCD, a person who exhibits them does not necessarily have OCD, and may instead have obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) or some other condition.
To be diagnosed with OCD, a person must have obsessions and/or compulsions, according to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria. The Quick Reference to the diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR (2000)[4] states six characteristics of obsessions and compulsions:
In addition to these criteria, at some point during the course of the disorder, the individual must realize that his/her obsessions or compulsions are unreasonable or excessive. Moreover, the obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming (taking up more than one hour per day), cause distress, or cause impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning.[4] OCD often causes feelings similar to those of depression.
OCD manifests in a variety of forms. Studies have placed the prevalence between one and three percent, although the prevalence of clinically recognized OCD is much lower, suggesting that many individuals with the disorder may not be diagnosed.[5] The fact that many individuals do not seek treatment may be due in part to stigma associated with OCD. Another reason for not seeking treatment is that many sufferers of OCD do not realize that they have the condition.
The typical OCD sufferer performs tasks (or compulsions) to seek relief from obsession-related anxiety. To others, these tasks may appear odd and unnecessary. But for the sufferer, such tasks can feel critically important, and must be performed in particular ways to ward off dire consequences and to stop the stress from building up. Examples of these tasks are repeatedly checking that one’s parked car has been locked before leaving it, turning lights on and off a set number of times before exiting a room, repeatedly washing hands at regular intervals throughout the day, touching objects a certain number of times before leaving a room, or walking in a certain routine way. Physical symptoms may include those brought on from anxieties and unwanted thoughts, as well as tics or Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms: rigidity, tremor, jerking arm movements, or involuntary movements of the limbs.
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