Apple Valley, CA 92307
OCD & Related Disorder
Help Themselves.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions)
Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages in to attempt to get rid of the obsessions and/or decrease distress
Symptoms of OCD Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder usually includes both obsessions and compulsions. But it’s also possible to have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms.
You may or may not realize that your obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable, but they take up a great deal of time and interfere with your daily routine and social, school or work functioning.
Obsession Symptoms
- Fear of contamination or dirt
- Doubting and having difficulty tolerating uncertainty
- Needing things orderly and symmetrical
- Aggressive or horrific thoughts about losing control and harming yourself or others
- Unwanted thoughts, including aggression, or sexual or religious subjects
Compulsion Symptoms
You may make up rules or rituals to follow that help control your anxiety when you’re having obsessive thoughts. These compulsions are excessive and often are not realistically related to the problem they’re intended to fix.
As with obsessions, compulsions typically have themes, such as:
- Washing and cleaning
- Checking
- Counting
- Orderliness
- Following a strict routine
- Demanding reassurance
What is the cause of OCD?
Doctors aren’t sure why some people have OCD. Stress can make symptoms worse.It’s a bit more common in women than in men. Symptoms often appear in teens or young adults.
Sometimes, a child might have OCD after a streptococcal infection. This is called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, or PANDAS.
Experts believe OCD is caused by an abnormality in the brain’s circuitry. Brain scans show brain activity is different in people with OCD. There’s probably a genetic component too, especially when OCD begins in childhood. Of all adults with OCD, 1/3 to 1/2 say their illness started in childhood or adolescence.
What are the risk factors of OCD?
Risk factors
- A parent, sibling, or child with OCD
- Physical differences in certain parts of your brain
- Depression, anxiety, or tics
- Experience with trauma
- A history of physical or sexual abuse as a child
Complications
- Trouble in relationships as loved ones find the patient’s symptoms difficult to deal with.
- Inability to go to work or school, or to engage in social activities.
- Suicidal behaviour or thoughts.
- Dermatitis from continual hand washing and other health issues.
- Inadequate quality of life.
How to prevent OCD?
What are the types of OCD?
01
Organization
Possibly the most recognizable form of OCD, this type involves obsessions about things being in precisely the right place or symmetrical.
For example, someone may feel the need to have all wall hangings level, make all labels on cans in the pantry face outward, or keep everything on their desk completely neat.
If the person doesn’t perform the compulsions to make everything just right, they might experience distress or even thoughts that the lack of organization will cause some unrelated harm to them or their loved ones.
02
Contamination
Contamination OCD revolves around two general ideas.
The first is the thought that people can spread non-viral illnesses through touch or proximity.
The second is that everyday things, thoughts, and words can “contaminate” a person, making them feel unclean.
People with this type often feel the need to wash their hands repeatedly and clean items frequently to avoid spreading the perceived contamination.
They may fear making themselves or someone else ill from being careless, or they might feel disgusted and uncomfortable around “unclean” items, which can lead to avoidance of certain objects, people, or places.
03
Intrusive Thoughts
People who experience intrusive thoughts have distressing and often abhorrent ideas pop into their heads seemingly at random.
These obsessions can involve hurting a loved one, causing harm to a stranger, or even the idea that simply thinking about something can make it more likely to occur.
To quiet these obsessions, a person might have to perform an action, such as saying something aloud or repeating something mentally.
While people who experience intrusive obsessions may have violent or harmful thoughts, they neither agree with them nor do they act upon them.
In fact, these ideas are so contradictory to how they feel that people often become distressed that their mind even created the thought in the first place.
04
Ruminations
This type has similarities with intrusive thought-based OCD, but there are some key differences. The ideas that get stuck in the head of someone with rumination-based OCD aren’t repulsive or distressing. Instead, they might be philosophical, religious, or metaphysical conundrums (essentially questions that have no proven answers). People who experience ruminations will be stuck on this topic for a while and might ignore responsibilities while they try to figure out an answer. Since these questions often have no definitive solution, people might feel unsatisfied or empty after thinking about this topic for so long.
05
Checking
Checking is an obsession in which a person is concerned about causing damage or harm by being careless.
Their compulsions might include checking doors to make sure they’re locked, stoves to make sure the burners are off, or their wallet to make sure their credit cards, IDs, and cash are all still there.
They might have to check something multiple times or even stare at it for a period before they can feel more at ease.
How is OCD diagnosed?
What is the treatment for OCD?
There’s no cure for OCD. But you may be able to manage how your symptoms affect your life through medicine, therapy, or a combination of treatments.
Treatments include:
