Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder that causes a person to display signs of anxiety disorder and will cause the person to have repetitive behaviors.  The repetitive behaviors include excessive hand washing, counting, cleaning and often checking the same things over and over not convinced the last time they were checked correctly.   There is evidence that this disease transpires within family units and has a hereditary element.  A person uses these repetitive behaviors to try to relive the symptoms of anxiety and feel if they don’t perform them the anxiety will only become worse.  A person with OCD may understand and know that they are obsessing and having compulsions but there isn’t anything they can do to stop them. 
An OCD obsession is characterized by certain ideas, impulses and images that continue to run through the mind repeatedly again and again.  The severity of the OCD will determine how often the obsessions return and how long or intense the obsession is.  The person with OCD will obsess about such things as germs or feel dirty no matter how many times they wash their hands.  Sometimes the obsessions will involve the thought of violence and fear, sexual acts or thoughts against a religious belief.  These obsessions are usually very time consuming and will take over an hour to complete and can interfere with someone’s daily life.  The adults with OCD will have knowledge of their repetitive behaviors as where a child might not be able to distinguish that this behavior is not natural.