About Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

We meet these people almost everyday; people who cannot seem to get enough out o
f doing a certain activity or habit over and over again, mostly out of the need
to achieve perfection or because of a fear of something. We often laugh at peopl
e who are like this and call them OC, or obsessive compulsive. Unfortunately, be
ing obsessive compulsive is a disorder.
How does a person have OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder? Some experts say O
CD is something that is genetic. That is, if a child's father or any immediate m
ember of the family has OCD, the child is likely to have it, too, although proba
bly not in the same strain. For instance, an older family member might have an O
CD that is related to an unexplainable fear of germs. The younger does not neces
sarily have it but may have an OCD affliction that is related to the need to see
things in proper order all the time.
OCD is called such because, first, it is an obsession. Obsessions are ideas or t
houghts that run through our minds repeatedly. Though we may be aware of their r
epetitive nature and decide that we do not want them around, we do not have the
capacity to control and shelve them. There are some people who have OCD who expe
rience 'obsession' once in a while. However, there are others whose obsessive fe
elings and thoughts are felt 24/7.
Second, OCD is a compulsion. By compulsion, we are referring to the acts or beha
viors that people assume in order to get rid of the fear or anxiety over a certa
in obsession. More often than not, these compulsions are grounded on a set of pe
rsonal predetermined rules, which must be followed with full accuracy and precis
ion. A person who has OCD is very keen with detail, especially during an 'attack
'.
Take for example a person whose OCD nature is the insane fear of germs. Because
he or she thinks that germs are everywhere and that he or she needs to be rid of
them all the time, he or she might repeatedly wash his or her hands or clean up
. The obsession occupied the mind over and over ; thus, the compulsion to take r
epeated action. It is believed that by performing the compulsions, the fear and
anxiety brought by the obsession to our heads, the nervous feelings are assuaged
. However, this can only be so for a short period. After a while, the fear resum
es and the compulsion worsens.
OCD is actually more common than we think. Some people like to just dismiss it a
s nothing, thinking that it would eventually correct itself in the long run. Som
e even find this a laughing matter because, well, repetition does seem funny at
times. However, OCD is a serious problem and should be addressed immediately.
Some OCD sufferers are given medication to help control their thought processes.
How effective these drugs are remains questionable, though, because people diag
nosed with OCD and took the necessary drugs, often find themselves returning bac
k to their usual OCD state after a while. Another treatment used is cognitive be
havioral therapy, which is actually more effective because it compels the person
to decide for himself or herself that something needs to be done if he or she t
ruly wants to end the disorder. The second method can take a while, but it has b
een found to be more effective, as opposed to drug taking (which can just have a
placebo effect).
OCD is a problem that is not very visible and obvious until it has escalated int
o a full blown rose. When this happens, people are often confined to a home to b
e more closely examined. However, while OCD is something that needs our attentio
ns, the good thing about it is that it does not kill us, at least, not deliberat
ely. And while it is an issue for many people today, the fact remains that it ca
n be cured and that's all that really matters.