Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a condition that affects all walks of life in all age groups, although the disorder is most commonly developed during earlier years. OCD is quite often related to depression and/or anxiety, eating disorders, and some addictions. The person experiences a lack of control over specific and recurring thoughts/images/urges (obsessions) and/or behaviours (compulsions) which they tend to need to repeat routinely over and over. It is quite common for the obsessive thoughts to be of a violent, sexual or religious content.
For some people these issues may be mild enough to be able to manage but if they begin to interfere with their working, social or private life then it starts to become a real problem. The condition will start to take up more time from the person’s day which interferes with their ability to live a normal life. One example might be where it takes a man two hours to shave and shower in the morning, which causes him to be repeatedly late for his work.
Sufferers of OCD can acknowledge that their thoughts and/or behaviours are excessive to those of ‘normal’ people but feel that they have no choice or control over them.
Usually the obsessive thoughts lead on to compulsive behaviours or rituals, for example:
Obsessive thoughts: Compulsive behaviour:
Fear of germs or not being clean enough Excessive object cleaning or body washing.
Fear of things being unorganised Symmetrical object arrangement, counting etc.
Fear of scarcity Hoarding objects etc.
Fear of uncertainty Following rigid irrational routines.
Fear of harm Repetitive checking of door being locked or
oven being turned off etc.
It is supposed that the obsessive thoughts produce anxiety and the compulsive behaviour then serves to reduce that anxiety in the very short term (although the person seldom experiences this on a conscious level).
Tics
Motor tics are a physical symptom which many sufferers of obsessive compulsive disorder also possess. These are things like facial twitches, eye blinking, shoulder or arm jerking. They can also be things like repeated throat clearing or grunting. Motor tics are always sudden and quick and always repeat themselves in exactly the same way.
What causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
There is some evidence suggesting that there is a difference in the brain of people with severe OCD. There is also more evidence to show that the condition is genetic as it seems highly likely for somebody to develop OCD if a parent suffered from the same. The third possible cause that researchers have found is that people can develop Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a result of experiencing trauma.
How is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder treated?
Standard treatments for OCD include prescribed psychotropic medication and psychotherapy. The latter includes ‘exposure response prevention’ which is a form of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, similar to Desensitisation Therapy that is used to treat fears & phobias. Both have shown to be able to reduce the level of OCD and sometimes eliminate it altogether. However, the downside to this has been that the therapy process is long and gradual, and the medication of course has side effects.
Help is Here
My toolbox of applications have success in treating both phobias and trauma – but on a much faster timeframe. If we suppose that the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a response in relation to a trauma which is causing anxiety, then faster treatment is a possibility. We can work to explore the cause, resolve the trauma/anxiety – and therefore reduce the effect. There is no doubt that a rapid and profound remission in the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder will greatly increase the quality of life.
Whatever the level of your disorder, whether you are suffering from obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviour then please connect with me to find out more about how I can help you.