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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that traps people in endless cycles of recurring thoughts and behaviors and must repeat certain actions over and over to relieve that stress or to obtain from danger. Pierre Janet described obsessive-compulsive disorder by using the term psychasthenia. Sigmund Freud described obsessions and compulsions as psychological defenses used to deal with sexual and aggressive conflicts in the unconscious mind (Bruce Bower: 1987). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is also known as “The Doubting Disease,” because it’s as though the mind doesn’t register when the person does a certain action, which triggers the source of the obsession (USA Today:1995). Unlike most people with anxiety disorders, those diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are more obsessed with what will happen to others instead of themselves (Edna Foa: 1995). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder occurs in a range from mild to severe. At some point the person will see the actions or thoughts as irrational and senseless. All people have habits and routines, but what makes obsessive-compulsive people different is the fact that their obsessions and compulsions interfere with their daily lives (American Family Physician: 2000). They spend large amounts of time doing odd rituals. The rituals can take hours a day and make the sufferers miserable and doesn’t allow them for much of a business or social life (Harvard Mental Health Letter). At one Obsessive Compulsive Disorder clinic, many had lost years of work to their symptoms. Seventy-five percent said the disorder interfered with their family lives and thirteen percent had attempted suicide (Harvard Mental Health Letter: 1998). Phebe Tucker, a psychiatrist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, explained, the most common obsession is washing hands for fear of contamination. Other acts are counting over and over, checking locks, hoarding items such as newspapers or cartoons, repeatedly dressing and undressing, and walking in and out of doorways. The thought and behavior patterns are ridiculous and upsetting. They can make it very difficult for a person to function properly at work, school, or even at home. Obsessions take the form of doubts, fears, images, or impulses. (Harvard Mental Health Center: 1998) Obsessions are unwanted ideas, images, and impulses that run through a person’s mind over and over again. They are disturbing, unpleasant and produce high anxiety. (www.lycos.com: April 2000) Sometimes the obsessions come once and a while and other times the thoughts are constant and cause tremendous distress. (American Family Physician: 2000) The most common obsessions are the fear of getting dirty or infected, fear of getting AIDS, disgust of being infected with bodily wastes or discretions, concern of doing something poorly or incorrectly, the fear of thinking evil or having sinful thoughts, extreme concern with certain sounds, images words or numbers, thoughts of killing or harming someone, or fear of disaster. (USA Today: 1995) The person feels the need to do things appropriately and in a flawless fashion. Compulsions re-establish the comfort destroyed by obsessions. Compulsions are done purposefully to satisfy those obsessions. They are blatant actions such as checking, cleaning, putting things in order, or repetitive words and actions such as mental rehearsal, silent prayer or counting, repeated demands, or repetition of phrases or sounds. Yielding the compulsions relieves growing tension and anxiety, but usually the relief is temporary. Twenty percent of those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder have only obsessions or only compulsions, but eighty percent have both. (USA Today: 1995) In the early years it was very rare to have obsessive-compulsive disorder. People who had symptoms were embarrassed and ashamed, so they never wanted to get help. In the nineteen eighty’s The National Institute of Mental Health conducted a survey and it had shown that two to three percent or about five million people have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or had it sometime throughout their life. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is more common than such mental illnesses as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or panic disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disoder usually affects those in teenage years or early adulthood. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the same among all ethnic races and is equally affecting males and females. (www.lycos.com: 2000) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder tends to last for years or even decades. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder affects many people and many lives. There have been plenty of researches and experiments associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. By observing several journal articles, books, and the Internet, the question that arises is what causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and what is the best approach for treatment?
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