Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
April 5, 2016
Have you ever heard someone say something along the lines of, “I’m so OCD”? Perhaps you’ve said it yourself while you were washing the dishes or folding laundry. Unless of course you really do have OCD, you were probably misusing the phrase (if you’ve done this, don’t feel bad; it’s a common mistake). Not only is that sentence grammatically incorrect in a number of ways, it abuses the term “OCD,” turning it into something it isn’t. OCD is not an adjective, it’s a completely real disorder. So the question we’re left with is this: What exactly is OCD? If you give me the chance, I will answer this question for you to the best of my ability within the following paragraphs.
OCD Defined
OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is chronic, which means it lasts for a very long time (in many cases it is lifelong) or tends to reappear every time it is “cured.” OCD is just one of many anxiety disorders. This particular one brings on recurring and unwanted thoughts; this is the obsessive component of the disorder. In response to these obsessions, the victim has compulsions which are intended to ease the disturbing thoughts. The average age of onset (first appearance) is 17 for males and 19 for females, and it is more common in males than females. About one in forty adults and one in one hundred children struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Symptoms
A common misunderstanding about OCD is that it is solely based on an uncontrollable urge to be neat and orderly, hence why you will often hear the average “neat-freak” call themselves “OCD.” (That’s bad grammar by the way. In Mr. Hay’s words, “Nobody says, ‘I’m so diabetes today.’” Nobody would say, “I’m so Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” either.) However, with OCD comes a variety of symptoms, many of them unrelated to cleanliness. It tends to begin with minor concerns or fears and gradually intensify over time. OCD is usually diagnosed when someone’s obsessions and compulsions cumulatively take up an hour or more of their time each day. The obsessions and compulsions are uncontrollable or difficult to control.
Obsessions:
The obsessions of somebody burdened with OCD would probably seem ridiculous to someone who doesn’t have the disorder, but it’s important to understand that the person is truly upset by the thoughts they have, no matter how absurd it may seem to you. A person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder might have an irrational fear of germs or contamination, or worry that they have or will hurt someone or themselves (like hitting somebody with their car on the way home from school, even if it’s quite obvious that they haven’t; these are usually referred to as “intrusive thoughts”). People with OCD often worry that they have not completed an important task (things like locking the door or shutting off the oven) and they might have superstitions linked to certain colors, numbers, or letters (the color red means blood, or odd numbers bring bad luck). It’s also frequent for victims to have disruptive sexual or violent thoughts, or feel the need to have everything in symmetrical or in perfect order (to an excessive point–this is not just perfectionism). These are only a few of the most common obsessive thoughts OCD can cause. There is really no limit to the obsessions one could experience.
Compulsions:
Compulsions are the afflicted person’s attempt to stop the obsessive thoughts and/or the anxiety that accompanies them. If someone with OCD thought they hadn’t turned off the oven before going to bed, they might get up and check in the middle of the night repeatedly, reassuring themselves over and over again that they have. Another compulsive action could be washing one’s hands periodically, even to the point of the skin becoming raw, because of a fear that their hands are dirty. You must also take into account that the compulsions will not always be related to the obsession. For example, someone might be anxious about giving a class presentation (this can apply to any kind of anxiety, not just classroom presentations) and so they will twist their necklace three times with the right hand, then three times with the left. The action doesn’t really do anything to solve the problem, but it does grant the performer temporary relief. Compulsions can be mental, too, like counting inside one’s head. Victims could also develop rituals to reduce their anxiety. The rituals are usually personalized; sequences of actions that the person has choreographed themselves. Somebody might be walking down a sidewalk and have to count their steps until they reach the number ten and then restart, stepping over each line in the sidewalk with the right foot, while never touching a crack or a line. Or they could have to flip their lightswitch on and off five times before they go to bed, breathe in and out three times, then whisper a certain prayer eight times and then finally get into bed. These actions probably seem senseless to anyone who doesn’t have OCD, but they could comfort someone who does (at least for a short period of time).
Causes
Physical:
Many believe that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has ties to genetics, but the specifics are unclear. However, it has been established that the brain of someone with OCD has abnormally high levels of serotonin (which is pretty much a chemical messenger) compared to that of someone without the disorder. It’s been proven that if someone has a family member with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, they are at a higher risk of developing OCD. It’s also been proposed that strep throat can cause OCD (this is called PANDAS: Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus). I won’t be getting into all the medical science, but there is quite a bit of evidence supporting the physical side.
Mental:
In many cases, OCD firsts appears when someone is under a lot of stress, which makes sense because Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is centered around excessive anxiety and a longing for control. When a person is stressed out, their anxiety level skyrockets and they feel it is necessary to have more power over their life. Traumatic experiences in a person’s life can also trigger OCD. Consider this: A child has physically abusive parents. He or she always feels as though they are walking on eggshells, never knowing when their parents are going to snap and that has created a very unstable environment for them emotionally. Constantly wondering when the next hit will fall, they desperately want to control it; if they can’t control it, then it could happen again, right? And so the child suffers constant anxiety and without realizing it they develop Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But remember, it’s not always things as serious as this that bring on OCD. Many times, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder develops in situations as simple as being concerned about grades.
It’s not uncommon for someone to have misconceptions about OCD or other disorders, but if I’ve accomplished my goal here, you now know that having OCD isn’t just being a hypochondriac or a perfectionist. It is excessively and irrationally worrying about things to a crippling point. It’s actually become somewhat of a trend to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or just a mental disorder in general. However, a large population of the people claiming to have these disorders are very uneducated about what they’re saying. If you happen to say something inaccurate about a disorder (or any medical condition) that you don’t understand and somebody who has that disorder overhears, that can be very embarrassing, frustrating, and hurtful to the other party. It is not very respectful for someone to act as if they have a disorder they don’t, one that some people find so unmanageable that they take their own lives.
If you’re concerned that you may have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or you simply want to know more about it, these are some reliable sources that could be helpful:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ocd/basics/definition/con-20027827