There is a common misconception that if you like to organize your things or keep your hands clean, then you might have OCD. However, it is often more complex than that. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental illness characterized by obsessions and compulsions. It shows symptoms like anxiety, uncontrollable thoughts, and repetitive behavior. It may interfere with the daily life of the affected individual. It can also affect their personal and professional relationships.
People with this disorder suffer from obsessions (repeated thoughts, fear, and aggression). They can be anxious and repeat actions to lessen their anxiety. These repetitive behaviors are compulsions. Medications and expert consultations can help to treat this condition.
A Brief Overview
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety-related mental disorder. A person with this condition may feel unwanted fears. They might have thoughts that can lead to repetitive actions. It has two aspects:
- Unwanted thoughts, images, and impulses, known as obsessions.
- Repetitive actions people engage in to relieve anxiety are known as behavioral compulsions.
People with this condition observe significant fluctuations while dealing with daily situations. Sometimes, they feel bound to perform compulsive acts to ease their anxiety. Fear is a large part of this disease, and some conditions might cause embarrassing situations.
This disorder can affect people of any age group. People with this illness might find themselves in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. It creates an urge that triggers anxiety, distress, disruption of daily functioning, and unwanted habits.
Recurring thoughts may make them feel more anxious. Obsessions can vary; for example, some people are extra cautious about cleanliness. They try to maintain a clean environment around them to relieve their anxiety. Keeping surroundings clean or checking things repeatedly may be examples of obsessive tendencies. But many of us might show these tendencies from time to time.
The actual disorder can be mentally draining. People affected have little or no control over their thoughts. A person suffering from an obsession with cleanliness can have a deep-rooted fear of contamination. They might repeatedly wash their hands and clean their house.
What Are The 4 Types of Obsessive-Compulsive Traits?
OCD involves excessive or unreasonable patterns in behavior. This may interfere with your daily routine and affect your social and personal life. It is important to look out for repetitive and unnecessary actions. However, severity can vary depending upon origin, causes, and state of mind. Usually, this mental health disorder may start showing signs in the teen or young adult years.
Although obsessions and compulsions change, this condition may worsen in stressful situations. There are dozens of characteristic features associated with this mental illness. Here, we will be talking about the major four-
1. Cleanliness
People suffering from cleaning OCD have an intense fear of contamination. It might lead to a feeling of discomfort and severe anxiety from uncleanliness, germs, or sickness. They may fear and avoid all possible sources of contamination. They may also feel the compulsion to wash and clean every few moments.
The feeling of being unclean might make them have uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions). This can lead to compulsions such as cleaning rituals. Cleaning rituals may include sterilizing, disinfecting, cleaning, and excessive washing. Any kind of contact with contaminants can lead to extreme fear and discomfort.
2. Orderliness
Obsession with the symmetry of objects or repetitively arranging things in a specific, neat way is a significant symptom of this disease. The affected individual may tend to arrange and rearrange belongings until they feel ‘perfect.’ Their behaviors can have a symmetrical pattern for everything and have a habit of repeatedly checking the order.
Patients may feel ‘incomplete’ if things are not in order or a certain way. This might create an intense urge to align objects or rearrange them again until they are free from discomfort. This type subtype also involves:
- Counting rituals (urge to count specific number)
- Magical thinking (assuming bad will happen if you don’t arrange things)
3. Hoarding
People with this subtype fear not having something when required. This can result in individuals collecting everything, even things that might not have any personal or financial value.
4. Safety/Harm
People with this subtype fear and worry about the possibility of unintentionally hurting someone or themselves. Due to the excessive feeling of doubt, uncertainty, and fear, they may feel a compulsion to check up on things. They might try to prevent dangerous consequences from relieving the distress. Sometimes people suffer from the fear of getting harmed by someone else. Hence, they may repetitively check on doorknobs, window panels, safety equipment, etc.
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What Causes OCD?
Unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead to compulsive behaviors characterize OCD. Genetic factors, stress, past experience, or biological factors can all cause this mental disorder. Various life experiences that cause anxiety and fear can also influence this condition. Following are three leading causes:
1. Experiences & Events
The impact of stressful life experiences and traumatic events can trigger this mental disorder. However, studies have shown the onset of this disorder might differ between males and females.
Women risk developing this rare mental illness because of life events like pregnancy and childbirth. Other reasons like family issues, toxic relationships, frustration, etc., can trigger the onset of this mental illness.
2. Personality Traits
Personality traits like indecisiveness, orderliness, impulsivity, responsibility, and neuroticism (an urge to avoid dangerous situations) are the major five personality traits responsible for the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder. They might influence or trigger the risk factors. Yet, they are not responsible for the direct cause of this mental disorder. This condition might hinder a person’s ability to relate to others.
3. Biological Factors
This mental health disorder may also occur due to genetics, family history, and the impact of life events on the brain. It might occur due to changes in the body’s natural chemistry or brain function.
For example, a person’s brain not affected by this mental illness will work by activating an impulse to perform a particular behavior like washing dirty hands to remove harmful germs. After which, this impulse will diminish, and they will move forward with their day. But a person suffering from this condition might go on to wash their hands repeatedly to remove germs until they are relieved. This could be due to certain changes in their brain function or natural chemistry.
How to Treat It
Diagnosis involves psychological consultation, blood tests, and physical examination. Different treatments are based on severity, age, and type of OCD. Medicines, therapy, and a combination of treatments are present to provide the best cure for this disorder. Sometimes people with it may suffer from other mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.
Below are some of the treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder:
- Medication: People suffering from this disorder may experience improvement through medication. A particular class of antidepressants can be an effective treatment for this disorder. Some psychiatric medications may control obsessions and compulsions of this condition. All the medications can have potential side effects. Hence, factors like pregnancy and breastfeeding should be considered before prescribing medication.
Consulting and discussing your medical history with your doctor before starting medication is a must. One should also not stop their medication without a doctor’s advice. This can be dangerous as one might suffer from withdrawal symptoms. - Relaxation Therapy: Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves major indicators like anxiety, depression, and compulsive behavior patterns. Treatments like yoga, meditation, and massage can help you manage and relax the brain.
- Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for this disorder in adults and children. It includes cognitive behavior therapy and habit reversal training. Habit reversal training can be as effective as medication. Cognitive behavior therapy involves Exposure and Response Prevention. In this, the patients may learn how to stop themselves from performing repetitive behavior in a situation that triggers anxiety.
Most mental disorders may need personalized treatment. Although there are treatments, therapy, and experts available to help. But a person suffering from this condition needs support from their loved ones.
Find Treatment from a Trusted Expert With DocVita
It could be challenging to live with this disorder. You may feel isolated and alienated from the people around you because of your condition. However, with effective counseling, you can manage this ailment.
At DocVita, we have a team of qualified and expert specialists. They are empathetic and well-versed with your condition and can provide proper care. All you need to do is to visit our page and book your first session today!