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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Everyone has experienced fears, worries, and even superstitious beliefs from time to time. Those with obsessive-compulsive disorder, experience these uncontrollable thoughts and urges to an extreme, which can greatly interfere with their ability to function normally. It is estimated that approximately three percent of the population has obsessive-compulsive disorder in a 12-month period. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder whereby an individual experiences excessive, intrusive, or unwanted obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are excessively repeated thoughts, images, and feelings that are disturbing and uncontrolled in a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder. These obsessions are often related to an unwarranted sense of harm, danger, or risk. Obsessions that are most common among patients with obsessive compulsive disorder include: fear of germs or dirt, imagining that you have harmed yourself or others, needing to have everything a very specific way, experiencing intrusive sexual thought, forbidden thoughts, moral doubts, and more. Obsessions are often accompanied by uncomfortable feelings. These obsessions cannot be controlled, though a patient may be aware of them and know that they are unwarranted or unrealistic.

Approximately 95 percent of all patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder also experience compulsions. Compulsions are intentional, purposeful, repetitive acts, often called rituals, which a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder feels driven to complete according to strict self-imposed rules. Compulsive behaviors are excessive and uncontrolled. These acts are often destructive and bring about feelings of uneasiness, though they are performed to alleviate the discomfort associated with an obsession. Compulsions can include excessive washing to rid feared contamination, hoarding to prevent loss, checking something to alleviate doubt, counting, and more.

One-third to half of all people with obsessive-compulsive disorder reports the onset of their condition during childhood. Obsessive-compulsive disorder often goes unrecognized and undiagnosed for years. Some believe that obsessive-compulsive disorder is under-diagnosed because patients may be secretive about their symptoms. In other cases doctors may not be trained to recognize obsessive-compulsive disorder or the patient may not have access to medical resources.

The exact causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder are unknown. No specific genes have been found to suggest that obsessive-compulsive disorder is inherited, though some believe that this condition tends to run in families. Research has discovered that obsessive-compulsive disorder involves problems in the communication between the front part of the brain and deeper structures. This communication is proctored by the neurotransmitter serotonin. For this reason, drugs called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are side effects associated with these medications that patients may wish to discuss with their doctors before beginning treatment. Medication, psychotherapy, and education are the major components of obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment.

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