Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Chronic condition associated with unwanted intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and associated excessive and unreasonable compulsive behaviours (compulsions) which cause marked distress and interferes with social and individual functioning.
What are the signs and symptoms of OCD?
Obsessions
Individuals experience recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges or images which are intrusive, unwanted and cause marked anxiety and distress
The thoughts, urges and images are not simply excessive worries about real world problems.
The individual recognize that the obsessional thoughts, urges, and images are from his or her own mind and not from someone or something influencing them.
Examples of the obsessional thoughts include contamination with dirt and germs, gas cookers not turned off, windows and doors unlocked, and items not arranged in a proper order or symmetry.
Compulsions
These are repetitive behaviours that individuals with OCD feel driven to perform in response to the obsessional thoughts.
Compulsions include:
hand washing in response to obsessional thoughts about contamination with dirt and germs
ordering and arranging things in a particular order or symmetry in response to obsessions about items not being arranged in a set order or symmetry
checking in response to obsessions about windows or doors being unlocked or gas cookers or other electrical appliances not being turned off.
Performing mental acts such as praying, counting, or repeating words silently in response to obsessional thoughts and thinking something bad will happen if such acts are not performed.
The individual recognizes that the obsessions and compulsions are unreasonable and causes marked distress to the individual.
How common is OCD?
Overall, about one to four individuals out of every two hundred individuals will have OCD.
Males and females are equally likely to have OCD
More than two thirds of OCD symptoms start before the age of 25 years.
What causes OCD?
OCD is caused by a combination of genetic, psychological, social, and environmental factors.
About 5% of first-degree relatives of individuals with OCD also have OCD.
More than half of identical twins of individual with OCD also have OCD whilst in the case of non-identical twins, about a quarter would have OCD if the other has OCD.
Which mental conditions commonly coexist with OCD?
More than half of individuals with OCD also suffer from Depression and other anxiety disorders such as social phobia and panic disorder
Alcohol and substance misuse
Eating disorders
Tic Disorder or Tourette’s Syndrome especially in children and adolescents
How is OCD treated?
If you feel you are having any of the signs and symptoms of OCD listed above the first thing to do is to consider visiting your Family Doctor or talk to a healthcare professional.
Your doctor will take a history from you, do a mental state examination, perform a physical examination, and may order some blood tests before confirming you have OCD.
Once it is confirmed you have OCD, your doctor may prescribe you some medication called SSRI antidepressants (e.g., Fluoxetine), and in some cases, your doctor may refer you to see a psychiatrist, who is a doctor who is an expert in treating individuals with mental health difficulties.
Your doctor may also refer you to a clinical psychologist or mental health therapist to receive psychological treatment referred to commonly as Behavioural Therapy.
Behaviour Therapy involves exposing individuals with OCD to fear-producing stimuli such as dirt and teaching them to block compulsive behaviors such as hand washing. The therapist takes an active role in encouraging and directing the individual in efforts to prevent habitual obsessive responses to fear.
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