Behavioral Health Articles

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

by Kurt Warner, Contributing Writer

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a fairly common mental illness. It is characterized by recurrent preoccupations (obsessions), accompanied by corresponding rituals (compulsions). Individuals suffering from OCD feel they cannot control either the obsessions or compulsions that plague them.

OCD is a chameleon disorder: it can take various obsessive and compulsive “forms,” which are only limited by the sufferer’s mind. Anything can become an obsession, but the most common include “contamination” fears, fear of losing one’s control over aggressive urges, intrusive sexual thoughts, and excessive religious or moral doubt. Common compulsions that spring from these obsessions include (but are not limited to) washing, repeating, touching, counting, ordering/ arranging, praying, and hoarding/ saving.

Almost every manifestation of OCD is detrimental. The obsessions that spring up in the mind can consume the individual suffering from the disorder. The individual may spend several minutes to several hours of the day engaging in these rituals (compulsions), egged on by obsessive thoughts. A person with OCD often finds that the disorder will grasp onto any idea it can, in order to “feed” itself. It’s easy to think of OCD as a vine that wraps itself around the thoughts of its victim. The obsessions integrate themselves within the thought patterns of the sufferer, and may affect everything she or he does. It primarily runs on fear (which is why it is considered an “anxiety” disorder). In other words, the fear of not obeying the compulsion is what drives people to obey its absurd “commands.” Often, individuals with OCD will state they must engage in the rituals or else something bad will happen.

It is important to remember that not all obsessive thoughts or compulsions are a form of OCD. Almost everyone has superstitions, habits, rituals, etc. that they engage in everyday. Think of friends who have to check the stove before they leave the house each and every time, or the neighbor who follows the same routine, every single day, with precision. The superstitious have some idea of what it is like for the sufferers of OCD. Superstition is fueled by the same basic mechanism … fear. Superstitions are essentially irrational beliefs that propel an action (compulsion). The next time you avoid walking under a ladder for fear of “seven years bad luck,” you are essentially getting the slightest taste of what many OCD sufferers experience nonstop on a daily basis. However, having superstitions is not a form of OCD. OCD goes beyond superstitions, quirks, and eccentricities. OCD is superstitions that consume one’s life, eccentricities that torture one’s thoughts, and quirks that must be followed for fear of some perceived horror.

Scientific studies suggest that OCD results from a chemical imbalance in the brain, not from bad parenting or personality defects, as was previously thought. People who have experienced a brain injury sometimes develop OCD, which also supports the theory that it is a physical condition. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 2.2 million American aged 18 and older (about one percent of the U.S. population) suffer from OCD.

Fortunately, OCD is one of the most treatable disorders. It is typically treated with behavioral therapy (talk-therapy) and/or pharmaceutical therapy. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) and other medications used to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders are also effective in OCD. Behavioral therapy generally consists of recognizing the obsessive thought and diminishing the compulsions attached. Knowledge is, perhaps, the single most valuable tool for those who are ceaselessly fighting the obsessions and compulsions of OCD. Knowing that the compulsions are rooted in obsessions—and that neither is rooted in reality—is half the battle.

Kurt Warner is enrolled in the Masters of Social Work program at Binghamton University and is completing an internship with Catholic Charities of Cortland County.

The Think Again! Group (TAG), is a local behavioral health task force whose goal is to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues by increased awareness, education, and accessibility to mental health services. To learn more, call the Cortland County Mental Health Clinic at 758-6100 and ask for Garra.