A lot of individuals go through life not knowing what they have been dealing with. Some conditions can be debilitating and overwhelming; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of them.
Wayne K. Goodman, M.D. gives a description of what OCD is. Here are some important points he noted to identify this condition:
- It is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and disturbing thoughts (called obsessions) and/or repetitive, ritualized behaviors that the person feels driven to perform (called compulsions).
- Compulsions serve to alleviate the anxiety obsessions bring . However, it is not uncommon for the compulsions themselves to cause anxiety.
- The person recognizes that her thoughts or behaviors are senseless or excessive
- Most OCD sufferers have multiple types of obsession and compulsion
Common types of obsessions: contamination (e.g., fear of dirt, germs or illness), safety/harm (e.g., being responsible for a fire), unwanted acts of aggression (e.g., unwanted impulse to harm a loved one), unacceptable sexual or religious thoughts (e.g., sacrilegious images of Christ) and the need for symmetry or exactness.
Common types of compulsions: excessive cleaning, checking, ordering and arranging rituals; counting; repeating routine activities and hoarding.
To read the whole article or more information for OCD go to: http://psychcentral.com/disorders/ocd/