Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder Health Article

Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder

Mental illness characterized by the recurrence of intrusive, anxiety-producing thoughts (obsessions) accompanied by repeated attempts to suppress these thoughts through the performance of certain irrational, often ritualistic, behaviors (compulsions).

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is classified as a mental illness, and is characterized by the recurrence of intrusive, anxiety-producing thoughts (obsessions). The person with obsessive-compulsive disorder repeatedly and consistently tries to suppress these thoughts through the performance of certain irrational, often ritualistic, behaviors (compulsions).

Symptoms

Although there are marked similarities between cases, no two people experience this anxiety disorder in exactly the same way. In one common form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), an exaggerated fear of contamination (the obsession) leads to washing one's hands so much that they become raw (the compulsion). Other common manifestations of OCD involve sorting, checking, and counting compulsions. Checking compulsions seem to be more common among men, whereas washing is more common among women. Another type of OCD is trichotillomania, the compulsion to pull hair. The compulsive behavior is usually not related in any logical way to the obsessive fear, or else it is clearly excessive (as in the case of hand-washing).

Everyone engages in these types of behavior to a certain extent—counting steps as we walk up them, double-checking to make sure we've turned off the oven or locked the door—but in a person with OCD, such behaviors are so greatly exaggerated that they interfere with relationships and day-to-day functioning at school or work. A child with a counting compulsion, for example, might not be able to listen to what the teacher is saying because he or she is too busy counting the syllables of the teacher's words as they are spoken.

These are some of the signs that a child might be suffering from OCD:

• Avoidance of scissors or other sharp objects. A child might be obsessed with fears of hurting herself or others.
• Chronic lateness or the appearance of dawdling. A child could be performing checking rituals (e.g., repeatedly making sure all her school supplies are in her bookbag).
• Daydreaming or preoccupation. A child might actually be counting or balancing things mentally.
• Inordinate amounts of time spent in the bathroom. A child could be involved in a hand-washing ritual.
• Late schoolwork. A child might be repeatedly checking her work.
• Papers with holes erased in them. This might also indicate a checking ritual.
• Secretive and defensive behavior. People with OCD will go to extreme lengths in order not to reveal or give up their compulsions.

Although people with OCD realize that their thought processes are irrational, they are unable to control their compulsions, and they become painfully embarrassed when a bizarre behavior is discovered. Usually certain behaviors called rituals are repeated in response to an obsession. Rituals only temporarily reduce discomfort or anxiety caused by an obsession, and thus they must be repeated frequently. However, the fear that something terrible will happen if a ritual is discontinued often locks OCD sufferers into a life ruled by what appears to be superstition.