All about OCD – Obsessive compulsive Disorder
Before we get to the topic on hand, let's have you answer a few questions first.
"Do you wash your hands thoroughly every 10-15 minutes?", "Do you find yourself poring over the minute details, be it work or leisure, again and again?", "Do you conspicuously avoid touching surfaces such as door knobs and hand rails for the fear of contracting germs?" and "Do you make it a point to have everything in your house color co-ordinated, placed in a fixed order and do you find yourself unsettled if it isn't so?". Now check your answer list, if you have answered most of these questions as yes, then you have a high chance of having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!
So what is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD is a mental illness or disorder that causes the sufferer to have certain obsessions, which lead to anxiety. OCD is also characterized by repetitive behaviors aimed to calm the anxiety bought on by the obsessions. For Eg: An individual diagnosed with OCD might have an obsessive fear of contracting germs from touching surfaces, which in turn makes him wash his/ her hands over and again to get rid of the germs.
Most people living with OCD are conscious and recognize their irrational obsessions and compulsions, and yet cannot do anything to stop them. This in turn leads to them becoming more distressed!
Obsessions:
Obsessions are basically thoughts or rather intrusive thoughts and impulses that occur in the individuals mind time and again. But instead of the mind moving onto something new, it keeps on repeating them over and over again, prompting anxiety in the individuals mind!
Some obsessions found to be occurring commonly in patients of OCD are:
Obsession over the fear of contracting germs
Color co-ordination of clothes and other household or work related items
Onset of a grave illness or injury onto themselves or others
Obsession of checking and re-checking everything to make sure they don't make a mistake.
Fear of Wrong, Immoral and sexual thoughts.
Disgust of bodily excretions
Compulsions:
People afflicted with OCD have obsessive thoughts which heighten their anxiety levels, so to calm themselves they indulge in certain compulsive repetitive behaviors or compulsions. As performing these actions repeatedly, helps to reduce their anxiety for a short period of time, they are repeated over and over again every time the individual feels his or her anxiety level rising!
Some commonly found compulsions in individuals with OCD are:
Washing of hands, brushing of teeth, combing hair etc.
Counting up to a certain number from zero, repeatedly
Stocking up or Hoarding of things
Repeating actions - sitting down, standing up, touching things, entering and exiting a door way etc
Constantly arranging things to be in a certain order, shape etc.
There are plenty of such obsessions and compulsions, other than the above mentioned commonly occurring one's which are displayed by those afflicted with OCD. These thoughts and repetitive behaviors are unique to every person.
What are the causes of OCD?
There is no one singular causative factor that leads to OCD, in fact OCD is believed to be caused by a multi-tude of factors such as:
Chemical Imbalance: Many doctors believe the occurrence of OCD in an individual can very well be attributed to the chemical imbalance in his/her mind. This imbalance occurs mainly in the chemicals such as serotonin, which is responsible for carrying messages to the nerve cells found in one's brain. If for some reason, the flow of these chemicals is blocked to the nerve cells or if there is an imbalance which results in fewer chemicals relaying messages to the brain then it leads to OCD.
Strep Infection:
Researchers have found a link between our immune system and OCD with a strep infection apparently leading to the illness. This was revealed after researchers found that the chances of OCD developing in an individual after he or she suffered from Strep Infection due to a weak immune system.
Gene factor:
Genes are known to play a big hand in determining whether or not an individual develops OCD or not. For E.g. If you have OCD, it is likely that some other family member is also suffering from the same. Though the exact nature of the gene which leads to the development of the OCD is not known, scientists are still trying to figure out the working of the 'OCD genes' which get passed on, leading to the development of the illness.
Can OCD be treated?
With OCD being the fourth most common mental illness affecting us Indians, treatment is necessary. This illness can be treated by a combo of medicines and behavioral therapy.
Medicines such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs help the individual to control his anxiety levels by means of increasing the production of the chemical serotonin in the brain. Another medication that can be used to treat OCD is Inositol, a naturally occurring isomer of glucose, which gives better results than SSRIs and is fast becoming the popular choice of drug related treatment of OCD. To read more about All about OCD - Obsessive compulsive Disorder
