What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, involves anxious thoughts
or rituals you feel you can't control. If you have OCD, you may
be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by
the urgent need to engage in certain rituals.
You may be obsessed with germs or dirt, so you wash your hands
over and over. You may be filled with doubt and feel the need to
check things repeatedly. You may have frequent thoughts of
violence, and fear that you will harm people close to you. You
may spend long periods touching things or counting; you may be
pre-occupied by order or symmetry; you may have persistent
thoughts of performing sexual acts that are repugnant to you; or
you may be troubled by thoughts that are against your religious
beliefs.
The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and the
rituals that are performed to try to prevent or get rid of them
are called compulsions. There is no pleasure in carrying out the
rituals you are drawn to, only temporary relief from the anxiety
that grows when you don't perform them.
A lot of healthy people can identify with some of the symptoms
of OCD, such as checking the stove several times before leaving
the house. But for people with OCD, such activities consume at
least an hour a day, are very distressing, and interfere with
daily life.
Most adults with this condition recognize that what they're
doing is senseless, but they can't stop it. Some people, though,
particularly children with OCD, may not realize that their
behavior is out of the ordinary.
OCD afflicts about 3.3 million adult Americans.1 It strikes men
and women in approximately equal numbers and usually first
appears in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood.2
One-third of adults with OCD report having experienced their
first symptoms as children. The course of the disease is
variable-symptoms may come and go, they may ease over time, or
they can grow progressively worse. Research evidence suggests
that OCD might run in families.3
Depression or other anxiety disorders may accompany OCD,2,4 and
some people with OCD also have eating disorders.6 In addition,
people with OCD may avoid situations in which they might have to
confront their obsessions, or they may try unsuccessfully to use
alcohol or drugs to calm themselves.4,5 If OCD grows severe
enough, it can keep someone from holding down a job or from
carrying out normal responsibilities at home.
OCD generally responds well to treatment with medications or
carefully targeted psychotherapy.
The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and the
rituals performed to try to prevent or get rid of them are
called compulsions. There is no pleasure in carrying out the
rituals you are drawn to, only temporary relief from the anxiety
that grows when you don't perform them.