Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. People with this disorder suffer from obsessions that cause anxiety. These obsessions take the form of fears and distressing thoughts that won't go away. To relieve their obsessions, people with OCD have compulsions. Compulsions are routines that an OCD sufferer does to try and relieve the anxiety from their obsessions. The routine can help the obsessive thoughts go away. A person with OCD suffers from the thoughts that they have. They may know their actions and thoughts aren't rational but they can't help the anxiety that comes from them. A person with OCD, will have to suffer the waste of time spent undergoing constant compulsions in their everyday life.
Examples of obsessions include: Extreme tidiness, conflicting thoughts about religion, fear of germs, and fear of hurting other people.
Examples of compulsions include: Excessive hand washing, repeated checking of light switches or to make sure that the stove is off, counting, repeating certain phrases, hording items, and keeping things in a certain order.
Signs that someone is suffering from OCD are being bothered by an obsession (like the ones above) and feeling the need to undergo compulsions (like the ones above). Just because you have one of these obsessions or a certain compulsion doesn't mean you will be diagnosed with OCD. OCD is diagnosed when obsessions and compulsions interfere with a person's life. People with OCD can spend longer than an hour obsessing over certain thoughts and then carrying out compulsions.
The full cause of OCD is not known. OCD has been thought to come from biological factors and to have a genetic basis. There has been a link between people diagnosed with OCD and having low serotonin levels. Studies have shown that their seems to be a problem with the pathways that are involved in judgment and planning.
Environmental factors can also influence OCD. Abuse, death of a loved one, relationship problems, or illness.
OCD usually occurs in people between the ages of 10 and 30. It has been found that 1 in 100 children have OCD and 1 in 40 adults have the disorder. Both adults and children may suffer from the same obsessions and compulsions. In total, about 2.3% of the U.S population suffer with OCD.
OCD can affect the family of the sufferer because it can be frustrating to watch a loved one suffer with what seems like irrational thoughts. It can hard for family to understand what an OCD sufferer is truly going through. It can be hard to change things in the family life because this can cause stress in a person who has OCD and thus perpetuate their anxiety. Loved ones may have to engage in the compulsions of the OCD sufferer.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the best options to treat a person with OCD. This type of therapy causes a person with OCD to confront their fears and obsessions. Then, the goal of therapy is to prevent a person from performing a compulsion to get rid of the unwanted anxiety they feel at being exposed to the obsessive thoughts. Medication can also be used to help treat OCD. CBT has been found to be successful in helping to relieve obsessive compulsive tendencies in sufferers of OCD. Treatment is especially helpful for children. According to ABCNews: "If your child has OCD, no matter that the symptoms are severe or that it has been going on for a long time- there is a good chance that they, and you, will get significant relief from treatment, and in a relatively short period of time (weeks, not months), especially if they have never been treated before, or have never had CBT treatment before".
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-when-unwanted-thoughts-take-over/what-are-the-signs-and-symptoms-of-ocd.shtml
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/obsessive-compulsive-disorder
http://www.biobehavioralinstitute.com/viewarticle.php?id=22
http://beyondocd.org/ocd-facts/
http://www.ocfoundation.org/EO_FamilyGuidelines.aspx
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=8238662&page=1#.UXcd2rVJOAg
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/ocd/
Examples of obsessions include: Extreme tidiness, conflicting thoughts about religion, fear of germs, and fear of hurting other people.
Examples of compulsions include: Excessive hand washing, repeated checking of light switches or to make sure that the stove is off, counting, repeating certain phrases, hording items, and keeping things in a certain order.
Signs that someone is suffering from OCD are being bothered by an obsession (like the ones above) and feeling the need to undergo compulsions (like the ones above). Just because you have one of these obsessions or a certain compulsion doesn't mean you will be diagnosed with OCD. OCD is diagnosed when obsessions and compulsions interfere with a person's life. People with OCD can spend longer than an hour obsessing over certain thoughts and then carrying out compulsions.
The full cause of OCD is not known. OCD has been thought to come from biological factors and to have a genetic basis. There has been a link between people diagnosed with OCD and having low serotonin levels. Studies have shown that their seems to be a problem with the pathways that are involved in judgment and planning.
Environmental factors can also influence OCD. Abuse, death of a loved one, relationship problems, or illness.
OCD usually occurs in people between the ages of 10 and 30. It has been found that 1 in 100 children have OCD and 1 in 40 adults have the disorder. Both adults and children may suffer from the same obsessions and compulsions. In total, about 2.3% of the U.S population suffer with OCD.
OCD can affect the family of the sufferer because it can be frustrating to watch a loved one suffer with what seems like irrational thoughts. It can hard for family to understand what an OCD sufferer is truly going through. It can be hard to change things in the family life because this can cause stress in a person who has OCD and thus perpetuate their anxiety. Loved ones may have to engage in the compulsions of the OCD sufferer.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the best options to treat a person with OCD. This type of therapy causes a person with OCD to confront their fears and obsessions. Then, the goal of therapy is to prevent a person from performing a compulsion to get rid of the unwanted anxiety they feel at being exposed to the obsessive thoughts. Medication can also be used to help treat OCD. CBT has been found to be successful in helping to relieve obsessive compulsive tendencies in sufferers of OCD. Treatment is especially helpful for children. According to ABCNews: "If your child has OCD, no matter that the symptoms are severe or that it has been going on for a long time- there is a good chance that they, and you, will get significant relief from treatment, and in a relatively short period of time (weeks, not months), especially if they have never been treated before, or have never had CBT treatment before".
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-when-unwanted-thoughts-take-over/what-are-the-signs-and-symptoms-of-ocd.shtml
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/obsessive-compulsive-disorder
http://www.biobehavioralinstitute.com/viewarticle.php?id=22
http://beyondocd.org/ocd-facts/
http://www.ocfoundation.org/EO_FamilyGuidelines.aspx
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=8238662&page=1#.UXcd2rVJOAg
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/ocd/