Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder ( OCD)

Obsessions are persistent thoughts, ideas, impulses, or images that seem to invade a person's consciousness. Compulsions are repetitive and rigid behaviors or mental acts that people feel they must perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety. Minor obsessions and compulsions are familiar to almost everyone and can play a helpful role in life. Distracting tunes or little rituals often calms us during times of stress. Common themes in obsessions are contamination and violence.Compulsions commenly center on cleaning and checking. Other common compulsions involve touching, verbal rituals, or counting.

Symptoms:

According to DSM- IV, a diagnosis of obssesive-compulsive disorder may be called for when obsessions or compulsions feel excessive or unreasonable, cause great distress, consume considerable time, or interfere with daily functions. OCD is often classified as an anxiety disorder because the victim's obsessions cause intense anxiety, while their compulsions are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety. In addition, their anxiety rises if they try to resist their obsessions or compulsions.

Prevalence of disorder:

As many as 2% of the people in the United States and other countries throughout the world suffer from OCD in any given year.

Age of disorder emergence:

The disorder may emerge at any age, but usually it first appears in childhood or adolescence.

Gender Differences in Diagnosis:

It is equally common in men and women to suffer from OCD.

Causes and Treatments:

Psychodynamic View:

According to the psychodynamic view, OCD arises out of a battle between id impulses, which appear as obsessive thoughts, and ego defense mechanisms, which take the form of counterthoughts or compulsive actions.

Behaviorist View:

Behaviorists believe that compulsive behaviors develop through chance associations. The leading behavioral treatement combines prolong exposure with response prevention.

Cognitive View:

Cognitive theorists believe that obsessive- compulsive disorder grows from a normal human tendency to have unwanted and unpleasant thoughts. The efforts of some people to understand, estimate, or avoid such thoughts actually lead to obsessions and compulsions. A promising cognitive- behavioral treatment is habituation training, during which therapists encourage clients to summon their obsessive thoughts to mind for a prolong period, expecting that such prolonged exposures will cause the thoughts to feel less threatening and to generate less anxiety.

Biological View:

Biological researchers have tied OCD to low serotonin activity and abnormal functioning in the orbital region of the frontal cortex and the caudate nuclei. Antidepressant drugs that raise serotonin activity are a useful form of treatment.