Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Analysis

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder, otherwise known as OCD is not just and adult disorder, but it also affects children and crosses racial, ethnic and cultural planes, that is the broad perspective. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is defined by two words, obsessive and compulsion. Obsessions according to Nolen-Hoeksema, 2014 are defined as thoughts, images, ideas, or urges (e.g., to harm oneself) that are persistent, that uncontrollably intrude on consciousness, and that usually cause significant anxiety or distress. Nolen-Hoeksema, 2014 also defines compulsion as repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels he or she must perform. This disorder qualifies as an anxiety disorder which meets criteria for its own classification in …show more content…

This obsession is not your everyday obsession, but it is the constant, uncontrollable, involuntary and the persistence of thoughts images, ideas, or urges that takes over and invade the privacy or one’s mind and sends that person into a state of anxiety and/or distress. A website called helpguide.org states that, obsessive thoughts may include but not limited to, “fear of being contaminated by germs, intrusive sexually explicit or violent thoughts and images, order and symmetry, and …show more content…

Biological treatments consist of the use of antidepressant. Per Nolen-Hoeksem, 2014, antidepressants drugs were found to have affecting levels of serotonin which helps relieve symptoms of OCD. The first drug was called Clomipramine then came the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), which included Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Luvox. These have been proven effective, up to 80 percent in patients with OCD, to decrease a person’s obsessive and compulsive behaviors. There are 30 to 40 percent of people with OCD that stop taking the medication, and may relapse. Along with relapse there are side effects of these types of medications which include drowsiness, constipation, and loss of sexual interest (Nolen-Hoeksem, 2014). Cognitive-behavioral treatments are therapies which include a clinician/therapist. For OCD and other compulsive behaviors, it is believed that the use of exposure and response prevention can help a person recover completely. This type of therapy, per Nolemn-Hoeksem, 2014, exposes the client to the focus of the obsession and prevents compulsive responses to the resulting anxiety. This type of therapy also challenges the client’s moral thoughts and excessive sense of responsibility. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has a higher rate of success than the medication. There is a 60 to 90 percent improvement rate in both the obsession and compulsive

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