Q and A: Obsessive-Compulsive... Health Article

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer intensely from recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive behaviors (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as hand washing, counting, checking or cleaning are often performed in hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety. Left untreated, obsessions and the need to perform rituals can take over a person's life. OCD is often a chronic, relapsing illness.

People with these symptoms, may feel ashamed to talk about them, worry that they are crazy, or think that nothing could possibly help. Fortunately, through research supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and others, effective treatments have been developed to help people with OCD.

How Common Is OCD?

About two percent of the U.S. population be affected by OCD during the course of their liefe. OCD is slightly more commone in females but it tends to begin earlier in males (most frequently between ages 6 and 15) than in females (between 20 and 29).

How Does the American Psychiatric Association Define OCD

As the name implies, OCD is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.  That is, thinking about something incessantly and performing some behavior incessantly. 

Obsessions

• Recurrent and persistent, intrusive, inappropriate thoughts that cause stress or anxiety

• These thoughts are not excessive worries about real-life problems

• The person attempt to ignore or neutralize thoughts with other thoughts or actions

• The person recognizes the thoughts are a product of their own mind

Compulsions

• Repetitive behaviors (e.g. hand washing) or mental behaviors (e.g. counting, repeating words or phrases) )

• These behaviors are aimed at preventing distress but not realistically connected with what they are intended to neutralize

Other qualifiers

• The person recognizes the obsessions or compulsion are excessive and unreasonable

• The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming and interfere with the person’s life

• The particular obsession or compulsion is not a specific symptom of some other mental disorder.

• The obsessions and compulsion are not due to a substance (alcohol, drugs, medications)

What Causes OCD?

There is growing evidence that the major basis of OCD is neurobiological basis. Family problems or attitudes learned in childhood - for example, an inordinate emphasis on cleanliness, or a belief that certain thoughts are dangerous or unacceptable - are no longer considered primary and may not be involved at all. influences.

Brain imaging studies using a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) have compared people with and without OCD. Those with OCD have patterns of brain activity that differ from people with other mental illnesses or people with no mental illness at all. In addition, PET scans show that in patients with OCD, both behavioral therapy and medication produce changes in  the brain. This is graphic evidence that both psychotherapy and medication affect the brain

What Treatments Are Available for OCD?

Both medications and psycohtherapy have proved to be effective in most cases of OCD, and their combination is even more potent. 

Several medications are effective in helping people with OCD, among them clomipramine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and paroxetine. If one drug is not effective, others should be tried.

A type of behavioral therapy known as "exposure and response prevention" is very useful for treating OCD. In this approach, a person is deliberately and voluntarily exposed to whatever triggers the obsessive thoughts, and then is taught techniques to avoid performing the compulsive rituals and to deal with the anxiety. Cognitive psychotherapy can also be effective. 

Can People With OCD Also Have Other Physical or Emotional Illnesses?

OCD is sometimes accompanied by depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or other anxiety disorders. When a person also has other disorders, OCD is often more difficult to diagnose and treat. Symptoms of OCD can also coexist and may even be part of a spectrum of neurological disorders, such as Tourette's syndrome. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment of other disorders is important to successful treatment of OCD. Thus, it is important that the OCD sufferer have an intial evaluation by a psychiatrist to ensure correct diaganosis.