What if I stab my best friend? What if I drop a baby down a flight of stairs? What if I run over someone with my car? Alarming as they may be, these questions occur naturally in the human brain. Most commonly known as intrusive thoughts, these thoughts occur spontaneously with no particular origin (Berry, May, Anrade, & Kavanagh, 2010). More often than not, intrusive thoughts are dark in nature, and appear in the mind when an individual least expects it, hence their name (Berry et al., 2010). These noetic interruptions are fairly common—between 79% and 99% of people in nonclinical studies experience intrusive thoughts (Barrera & Norton, 2011). On the flipside, these intrusions can fester and become more than just fleeting thoughts in some individuals. While intrusive thoughts and their related impulses occur universally in the human population, they can lead to clinical conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
OCD is a clinical disorder with “recurrent, intrusive thoughts, images, or impulses that are experienced as ego-dystonic and extremely distressing” (Barrera & Norton, 2011). Evidence suggests that OCD and other similar disorders stem from the deliberate avoidance of noetic interruptions. As these interruptive thought processes appear more frequently, the afflicted individual perceives them as a personal image that exhibits a high incompatibility with their current personality. In an attempt to prevent those negative thoughts from becoming reality, people with OCD develop rituals and routines to “not think about” certain intrusive thoughts (Belloch, Morillo & Garcia-Soriano, 2009). While they initially start out as fleeting thoughts, intrusive thoughts can develop into full scale obsessions. What was or...
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...CD and its underlying causes may potentially indicate a solution for other similar anxiety disorders.
Works Cited
Barrera, T. L., & Norton, P. J. (2011). The appraisal of intrusive thoughts in relation to obsessional-compulsive symptoms. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 40(2), 98-110. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from EBSCO Host Database.
Belloch, A., Morillo, C., & Garcia-Soriano, G. (2009). Strategies to control unwanted intrusive thoughts: Which are relevant and specific in obsessive-compulsive disorder?. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33(1), 75-89. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from the PILOTS: Published International Literature On Traumatic Stress database.
Berry, L. M., May, J., Andrade, J., & Kavanagh, D. (2010). Emotional and behavioral reaction to intrusive thoughts. Assessment, 17(1), 126-137. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from the SAGE Journals database.
Conceição do Rosario-Campos, M., Leckman, J. F., Mercadante, M. T., Shavitt, R. G., Prado, H. S., Sada, P., Zamignani, D. & Miguel, E. C. (2001). Adults with early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1899-1903.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a disease that afflicts up to six million Americans, however all its characteristics are yet to be fully understood. Its causes, triggers, attributes, and variations are still unknown although effective medicines exist to treat the symptoms. OCD is a very peculiar disease as Rapoport discusses it comes in many different forms and have different symptoms yet have many similarities. One sure aspect is that it appears, or at least its symptoms do, out of the blue and is triggered either by stressful experiences or, most of the time, just appears out of nowhere. One example is a boy who's father was hard on him for being affected by the worlds "modern ways", the boy at a high school party tries LSD ( a hallucinatory drug), after that thoughts of whether his mind was dangerously affected by the drug. What seemed like completely appropriate worrying and anxiety turned into attacks of anxiety, he couldn't shake the thoughts that something was wrong with his mind. Essentially he had "his mind on his mind" constantly and that haunted his days his thought were as follows: " did the lsd do anything to my mind? The thought never went away ; instead it got more and more complicated. There must be something wrong with my mind if i am spending so much time worrying about it. Is there something wrong with my mind? Was this from the lsd? Will it ever get better?" (The boy who, J. L. Rapoport 125,126) Dr. Rapoport promptly put him on Anafranil (an anti-depressant, used for OCD, not marketed in the U.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be defined as having repetitive, unwanted, urges and thoughts that raise the need for excessive amounts of time or energy spent on the unwanted urges. OCD typically involved ritualistic like tendencies that result in two types of characteristics, obsessions and compulsions. Obsession can be characterized by the actions and thoughts that intrude one’s mind. As well as the uncontrollable and irrational impulses one must face with OCD. Compulsions can be defined as the act of doing excessive things related to behaviors. People feel the need to act on these compulsions for the sole purposes of releasing the anxiety they feel by the compulsive and reoccurring thoughts. In essence,...
For a person to be diagnosed with OCD, they need to have both an obsession and a compulsion. An obsession is best defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges or images that are experienced during the disturbance as intrusive and unwanted. While compulsions are defined by: repetitive behaviours such as hand washing, ordering, checking in which the person feels they feel strongly compelled to perform in response to their obsession The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The most empirically sound method of treatment is called Exposure response prevention (Himle & Franklin, 2009). This will be the psychological method of treatment discussed.
According to the DSM-5, obsessions are defined by two things. The first is, “recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in most individuals cause marked anxiety or distress.” The second is, “the individual attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, urges, or images, or to neutralize them with some thought or action (i.e., by performing a compulsion).” Compulsions are defined by two things, as well. The first is, “repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.” The second is, “the behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or distress, or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent, or are clearly excessive.” Some more criterions include that the obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming by taking more than one hour per day, or causing major distress in daily functioning. Also, the disturbance is not better off being explained by another mental
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder that can be best characterized by the recurrent or disturbing thoughts that are labeled as obsessions. Sometime these obsessions can take on the form of intrusive images or the unwanted impulses. The compulsions can come from the repetitive or ritualized behaviors that a person feels driven to perform on a daily basis. The majority of people with the diagnosis of OCD can have both obsessions and compulsions, but most of the times about 20% have obsessions alone while 10% may have the compulsions alone (Goodman M.D., 2013) . Common types that have been illustrated in individual’s diagnoses with OCD can be characterized with concerns of contamination, safety or harm to themselves, unwanted acts of aggression, the unacceptable sexual or religious thoughts, and the need for symmetry or exactness. While some of the most common compulsion can be characterized as excessive cleaning, checking, ordering, and arranging rituals or the counting and repeating routines activities that are done sometimes on a daily basis multiple times in a day.
"Obsession is a commitment; you have to believe in it, because it soon takes you over." A chilling statement made by Pilar Vilades in a New York Times Magazine article regarding how time consuming an obsession can be. This is exceptionally true in cases of OCD. The human mind is truly one of this world's wonders, and watching how a person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behaves will cause one to cherish sanity. However, even those who are considered sane experience their share of obsessive feelings in the more benign form of infatuation. Whichever word is used to describe it, the essence of both words resides in the dominance of one's mind by a single, reoccurring thought.
Penzel, Fred. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A guide to getting well and stay well. Oxford University Press, 2000.
One of the most widely spread disorders across the country these days is obsessive compulsive disorder, or otherwise known as OCD. All types and ages of people can develop OCD, and it can play a large role in how you go about your daily life, and the daily stresses that you run into. Obsessive compulsive disorder falls in with the category of anxiety disorders, and is characterized by persistent routines and obsessions which often results in compulsive rituals done on a daily basis. Some common factors of having OCD is the need to arrange things, compulsive acts of hand washing, and even counting. (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2014, p. 1) There are many symptoms that can fall into the category of being classified as OCD. Some people have both obsessions and compulsions, but also some may only experience one factor. (L.Robinson, 2014, p.2) Some symptoms that can be classified as signs of obsessive thoughts include: fear of germs, violent thoughts or images, fear of harm, superstitions, and symmetry. Although these are only just a few, there are plenty of symptoms most involving the action of being afraid of something. Some signs of compulsive behavior can result in excessive double checking of things, counting, repetition of words, organization of things, and even hoarding. I find it ironic that two people of a completely different mindset of what a home should look like, could both have the same disease. For instance, one person can be a hoarder living in a cluttered house, and one person could be living in the most pristinely cleaned home. Although OCD may seem harmless and in some cases even an advantage to one’s lifestyle of not becoming helpless and lazy, there are many risk factors that come with it as well. Obsessive ...
Levenkron, S. (1991). Treating & Understanding Crippling Habits. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. New York, NY: Warner Books.
But it was the nature of the behaviors that differentiated the disorder that Mr. Landau had come to in it that he was not obsessed with order but obsessions and compulsions to remove intrusive thoughts leading to the diagnosis obsessive-compulsive disorder (Comer, 127). Of note comes that Mr. Landau had displayed modest symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in it that study habits had taken precedence over hygiene, that the behavior was not caused by intrusive thoughts but that of perfection. Also of note comes that OCD often tends to come associated with another mental disorder and thus often makes the diagnosis comorbid, a point that could definitively show OCPD alongside OCD as a major possibility (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD for short, has affected numerous people; one being Jeff Bell, the author of the book Rewind, Replay, Repeat: A memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This book has much insight on OCD and touches many interesting facts that some people would never know prior to reading.
Obsessions are thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again and feel out of your control. The person does not want to have these ideas, finds them disturbing and intrusive, and usually recognizes that they don't really make sense. People with OCD may worry excessively about dirt and germs and be obsessed with the idea that they are contaminated or may contaminate others. Or they may have obsessive fears of having inadvertently harmed someone else (perhaps while pulling the car out of the driveway), even though they usually know this is not realistic. Obsessions are accompanied by uncomfortable feelings, such as fear, disgust, doubt, or a sensation that things have to be done in a way that is "just so."
There is significant evidence to support the hypothesis that obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and eating disorders are related and may even belong in the same category of disorders known as the Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. Currently, our understanding of OCD and symptoms that are associated with it lead us to believe that it is a very heterogeneous disorder with at least four distinct symptom dimension subgroups (Matsunaga et al. 2010). Matsunaga et al. (2010), conducted a study in which participants with OCD were categorized into one of four subgroups of symptoms. The researchers in this study found that over a quarter (26%) of their participants could not be easily categorized into any particular group.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disease that a lot of people suffer with in society especially young adults. While it is not a disease that is deadly, it does affect the victim in every day aspects of their life and can ultimately control their lives. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as, “… a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over”. The thoughts that individuals have when suffering through Obsessive Compulsive Disorder cannot be restrained and really can disturb the individual. Thoughts or actions that people may have can range from worrying about daily occurrences, such as washing their hands, to having thoughts of harming people that are close to them. People tend to have these reoccurring compulsions because they believe by doing them or thinking them, they will either prevent something bad from happening or because it eliminates stress that they have. This disease can last a lifetime and can be very detrimental and disabling to how one lives their lives. Individuals can start to see signs of OCD in either late adolescence or even early adulthood and everyone is susceptible. When it comes to classifying this incurable disease, there is much debate on whether or not it a type of anxiety (Abramowitz, Taylor, & McKay, 2009). It is important to be able to understand this mental disorder since so many people are diagnosed with it. While there are treatments for OCD, there are no cures yet. Treatments could range anywhere from taking prescribed medication to just going to therapy and counseling fo...