Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

What is OCD?
1 in 50 adults has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), in the United States. @0 years ago it was thought of to be a very rare disorder. OCD is a common neuropsychiatric disorder that is one of the most treatable ones. To be diagnosed with OCD you must have disabling obsessions, compulsions, or both.

Obsessions
A lot of people have worries, doubts, or superstitions. A diagnosis of OCD is made when you do things excessively like washing your hands for hours. Obsessions are recurring and persistent ideas, thoughts impulses, or images. The thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems. The dictionary definition of obsession is: Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety. Or, a compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion. Some common obsessions are: fear of dirt or germs, imagining losing control or aggressive urges, or imagining the lose of loved ones.

Compulsions
Are things that people do or acts that perform in their head. These are repetitive and senseless. Repetitive behaviors are mental acts that the person feels driven to perform. The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation. The dictionary definition of compulsion is: an irresistible impulse to act, regardless of the rationality of the motivation. Or, an act or acts performed in response to such an impulse. Some common compulsions are: repeatedly washing hands until they are raw, touching an object a certain amount of times, checking to see if doors are locked or the stove is off, or counting objects to make sure their all still there.

OCD can start at any time. Someone with OCD could be as young as preschool or sometime in adulthood. Studies have found that it takes about 17 years from the first sign of OCD for a person to receive appropriate treatment. Many people will not be diagnosed because they keep it a secret or lack knowledge about the disorder. Others may not be able to get treatment for various reasons.