What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Obsessions are thoughts, ideas and impulses that enter a person’s mind involuntarily and cannot be removed from his mind. These impulses, which enter a person’s mind against his will, are considered irrational and absurd by the person. But these thoughts cause intense distress and restlessness. This anxiety disorder is popularly called delusion or obsession.

What is Compulsion?

They are repetitive intellectual and mental actions performed to eliminate behaviors that cause distress and unrest caused by obsessions.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or obsession-compulsive disorder is a disorder that manifests itself with disturbing obsessive thoughts that come to the person’s mind in an involuntary, recurring manner and that he or she has difficulty in getting rid of, and compulsive behaviors or mental preoccupations that he repeats in order to cope with them or to get away from his mind. It is a type of anxiety disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, popularly known as obsession or delusion disease, is a psychiatric disorder. It is seen in approximately 2-3 of every 100 people.

 

Everyone worries about getting sick or suffering financial, physical or emotional harm, and takes precautions against such possible situations. Being meticulous, being cautious, and caring about being neat and tidy are not signs of OCD . In this disease, disturbing thoughts, impulses or dreams come to the person’s mind even though he/she does not want to. These thoughts and dreams are repetitive, persistent, anxiety-fearing and distressing. The so-called “obsessive” part of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are these disturbing thoughts and dreams.

 

Examples of obsession:

Was the stove left on?
Did I lock the car?
My hands were dirty, they were not clean.
The things were not neat or symmetrical.
I committed a sin
. I thought something shameful.

 

The person feels bad when these thoughts and images come to his mind and he does various behaviors to reduce this feeling.

 

Was the stove left on?     When the thought comes to his mind,    he checks the stove .

Did I lock the car?      When the thought comes to his mind,     he checks the car.

When the thought of “my hands are dirty”                   comes to mind ,     he washes his hands.

When he thinks that     the items are not in order,  he places them symmetrically and meticulously.

When the thought of committing a sin                comes to his mind,     he asks for forgiveness.

 

These behaviors are the so-called “compulsive” part of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

 

If such activities of a person who has difficulty in coping with obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors begin to emerge at a level of severity that causes him/her to be distracted from his/her daily life duties, performing the compulsive behaviors in order to end the preoccupation caused by obsessive thoughts and the emotional tension they create becomes both an urgency and a routine. If it has started to develop, then it can be said that you are faced with a situation that is likely to be OCD, which should be evaluated by a specialist.

 

What are the factors that cause OCD disorder?

Although the cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder is not fully understood, environmental and biological factors are thought to play an important role.

Environmental Factors;

Stress factors may affect people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the events around them may cause this disorder to increase. These environmental factors;

  • Stress experienced in social and family environments
  • Sexual harassment
  • Changes or problems with work or school
  • Factors such as marriage, moving, having children
  • Traumas and anxieties experienced in his relationships with people
  • Losing a loved one

 

Biological Factors;

In order for the human brain to continue its normal functions, it needs nerve cells called neurons in the brain. It has been determined that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is caused by deteriorations in the chemicals of neurons that communicate with electrical signals.

 

What are the symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

 

The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are diverse and vary from person to person. The most common major obsessions and compulsions are:

 

checking compulsions

Checking whether items such as stove, iron, door are open or closed. Behaviors such as having a strict routine, being afraid of making mistakes, trying to make sure that oneself or others will not be harmed due to mistakes…

 

contamination obsessions

Unfounded concerns about contamination with dirt and germs, concerns about contact with animals, concerns about getting sick, fear of contamination of dirt and germs to oneself or others…

 

Touch compulsions

Compulsive behavior to touch an object used as a repellent, refusal to shake hands or touch a doorknob…

 

disease obsessions

Fear of contracting a fatal disease

 

sexual obsessions

Sexual fantasies that are formed involuntarily and cause discomfort, thoughts of sexual content that are forbidden or considered perverse by the person, concerns about having a homosexual relationship or that oneself may be homosexual…

 

religious obsessions

Excessive concern with binary thoughts such as right and wrong, sin and good, good and bad, concerns about disrespecting things considered sacred, concerns about being sinful or destined for hell, unwanted thoughts about religion, sexuality or violence…

 

Cleaning – washing compulsions

Excessive or ceremonial hand washing, cleaning by adhering to certain rituals, not being satisfied with cleanliness and starting cleaning again, repeated washing and washing of hands…

 

Sorting and arranging compulsions

Extremely meticulous behavior regarding order, symmetry and order, anxiety about trying to keep things neat and symmetrical, constantly arranging things in a certain way, eating in a certain order…

 

Counting compulsions

Compulsive behaviors such as performing a certain behavior up to a certain number of times, holding certain objects for a certain number of times, constantly counting numbers mentally or out loud while performing routine tasks,

 

repetition compulsions

Repeating certain words, phrases or prayers, fixating on words, images or thoughts that are often disturbing, haunting and disrupting sleep…

 

Hoarding compulsions

Compulsive behaviors aimed at accumulating, hiding, arranging and classifying unnecessary and unimportant objects, except for hobby purposes or keeping items of sentimental value, collecting or hoarding things of no value

 

Avoidance obsessions

Having thoughts that could harm oneself or others, or believing that one could harm someone…

 

As a result of the definitions we have made above, if obsessive thoughts and ideas negatively affect a person’s daily life and reach a level that limits their daily activities, a mental illness called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), one of the anxiety disorders, is diagnosed.

 

Ankara Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment

 

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder   is not a self-healing disorder, so after examinations by expert psychiatrists and psychologists, medication and cognitive behavioral therapies are applied as treatment methods. OCD usually begins in adolescence. Sometimes, OCD that begins in preschool age can also be encountered. The causes of OCD are genetic factors, psychological states of those responsible for caring for the person, traumas experienced in childhood, and personality traits.

 

The aim of OCD treatment is to reduce the tension created by obsessive thoughts that disturb the person, to help the person cope with this tension, and to help the person understand how erroneous/unreal thoughts are formed and to produce thoughts that are appropriate to the reality of the situations they are in.

 

The cognitive behavioral psychotherapy approach, which is generally supportive of drug therapy, has the most important place in the treatment of OCD.

 

The basic mechanism of OCD is that an unrealistic and unsettling risk perception involuntarily enters the person’s awareness, feelings of not being safe, and behaviors that involve excessive effort to ensure safety through healthy-unrealistic repetitive methods become routine.

 

When OCD begins, a clear relationship is established between the obsessive thought that creates the perception of risk and the compulsive behavior that helps get rid of it. As the thought and behavior pattern becomes stronger, the semantic connection established between the two begins to lose its importance. Compulsive behavior has now turned into an automatic reaction to prevent the disturbing thought from continuing.

 

The need that is met by the compulsive behaviors of the person living with OCD is the use of the comforting function of some behaviors that he assumes to have a protective function against an unrealistically risky situation; Thus, he/she definitely feels that there is something he can do against a risky situation and that he is safe.

 

Although it is a very challenging disease, in most cases it is possible to control the disease with appropriate treatments.  Many symptoms can be revealed by testing the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptom Scale  . Depending on the severity of the disease, treatment may be medication, psychotherapy (talking treatment), or a combination of the two treatments. In addition, in more severe cases, treatments such as ECT and deep brain stimulation can be applied.

 

Medication; 

Drugs that affect serotonin are very useful in patients suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Antidepressant drugs help balance the serotonin level in the brain. This group of drugs is widely and successfully used in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Temporary side effects such as mild nausea, headache, sleep disturbance, and stomach upset may occur in the first days of drug treatment. Medicines are generally easy to use by patients and do not cause any problems during their use.

 

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

The aim of treatment is to enable patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder to face their fears by preventing rituals from occurring. Patients try to cope with anxious thoughts by escaping and avoiding these thoughts. As patients try to escape from their thoughts, these thoughts increase even more, thus creating a vicious circle. Therapies have an important place in the treatment of the disease, especially in the prevention of compulsions (relapses). Cognitive behavioral treatments have the most important place among treatment options.

 

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