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Can you develop ocd. Understanding OCD: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Insights

by alexxlab

What are the primary symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. How does OCD typically develop in individuals. What are the potential causes of OCD according to current research. How can understanding OCD symptoms contribute to effective treatment.

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The Prevalence and Onset of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects an estimated six million people in the United States alone. This mental health condition manifests equally in men and women, spanning across various age groups from school-aged children to older adults. While OCD can emerge at any age, it typically begins during adolescence or early adulthood, with some cases starting in childhood.

The onset of OCD is generally gradual, although sudden onset can occur in certain instances. Individuals often experience fluctuations in symptom severity, which may correlate with stressful life events. As symptoms tend to worsen over time, many people struggle to pinpoint the exact moment their OCD began, but can often recall when the symptoms started significantly impacting their daily lives.

Recognizing the Key Symptoms of OCD

OCD is characterized by a distinct set of symptoms that can significantly disrupt an individual’s life. These symptoms include:

  • Unwanted or distressing doubts
  • Intrusive thoughts about harm, contamination, sex, religious themes, or health concerns
  • Compulsive rituals such as excessive washing, checking, praying, or repeating routine activities
  • Special thoughts designed to counteract negative thoughts

Is there a connection between certain triggers and OCD symptoms? Indeed, many individuals with OCD can identify specific situations, places, or objects that trigger their distressing thoughts and urges to perform rituals. This awareness often leads to avoidance behaviors, where people actively try to steer clear of these triggers.

Exploring the Potential Causes of OCD

The exact causes of OCD remain a subject of ongoing research, with several theories proposed by experts in the field. While no definitive explanation has been established, researchers have identified several factors that may contribute to the development of OCD:

Cognitive Factors

Some experts suggest that specific “thinking mistakes” about harm play a role in OCD. These cognitive distortions include:

  • Equating thoughts about an action with actually performing or wanting to perform that action
  • Believing that people should have complete control over their thoughts
  • Associating the failure to prevent harm with actively causing harm
  • Assuming responsibility for harm regardless of circumstances

While these thinking patterns are common in individuals with OCD, they do not fully explain why some people develop the disorder while others do not.

Neurochemical Imbalances

Many researchers have observed abnormal brain chemistry involving serotonin in people with OCD. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter crucial for various brain functions. The effectiveness of medications that alter serotonin levels in relieving OCD symptoms supports this theory. However, the exact role of serotonin in OCD development remains inconclusive and requires further investigation.

Genetic Factors

Evidence suggests that OCD may have a genetic component, as it appears to be more prevalent in some families than others. However, distinguishing between genetic predisposition and learned behaviors within families poses a challenge for researchers. It’s likely that both nature and nurture play a role in the development of OCD.

The Complexity of OCD Development

Why do some individuals develop OCD while others don’t? This question continues to puzzle researchers and clinicians alike. The current consensus is that OCD likely results from a combination of factors, including biological, genetic, and environmental influences. While the lack of a definitive explanation can be frustrating for those affected by the disorder, it’s important to note that effective treatments are available regardless of the underlying cause.

Understanding the symptoms of OCD is crucial for both diagnosis and treatment. By gaining insight into their specific OCD symptoms, individuals can actively participate in their treatment process and achieve better outcomes.

The Two Critical Associations in OCD

To better understand OCD and its treatment, it’s essential to recognize two key associations that play a significant role in the disorder:

1. Triggers and Anxiety Association

The first association involves the connection between certain objects, thoughts, or situations and feelings of anxiety or discomfort. Individuals with OCD often develop strong links between specific triggers and distressing emotions, leading to avoidance behaviors or enduring these situations with great difficulty.

2. Rituals and Relief Association

The second association relates to the perceived relationship between performing compulsive rituals and experiencing a decrease in distress. This connection reinforces the cycle of OCD, as individuals come to rely on their rituals as a means of temporary relief from anxiety.

How do these associations impact OCD treatment? Understanding and addressing these associations is crucial in therapy. Effective OCD treatment aims to break both types of associations, helping individuals manage their symptoms and reduce the impact of OCD on their daily lives.

The Role of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in OCD Treatment

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has emerged as one of the most effective treatments for OCD. This therapeutic approach focuses on identifying and modifying the thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to OCD symptoms. CBT for OCD typically includes the following components:

  1. Psychoeducation about OCD and its mechanisms
  2. Cognitive restructuring to challenge and modify distorted thinking patterns
  3. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) exercises to gradually confront feared situations without engaging in compulsive behaviors
  4. Relapse prevention strategies to maintain progress and manage future symptoms

How does CBT help break the associations in OCD? Through systematic exposure to feared stimuli and prevention of compulsive responses, individuals learn that their anxiety naturally decreases over time without the need for rituals. This process helps weaken both the trigger-anxiety and ritual-relief associations that maintain OCD symptoms.

Medication Options for OCD Management

In addition to psychotherapy, medication can play a significant role in managing OCD symptoms. The most commonly prescribed medications for OCD are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which work by increasing the availability of serotonin in the brain. Some commonly prescribed SSRIs for OCD include:

  • Fluoxetine (Prozac)
  • Sertraline (Zoloft)
  • Paroxetine (Paxil)
  • Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
  • Escitalopram (Lexapro)

In some cases, other medications such as clomipramine (a tricyclic antidepressant) or antipsychotic medications may be prescribed as augmentation strategies for treatment-resistant OCD.

How do medications complement psychotherapy in OCD treatment? While medications can help reduce the intensity of OCD symptoms, they are often most effective when combined with CBT. The combination of medication and therapy can provide more comprehensive symptom relief and improve overall functioning for individuals with OCD.

Living with OCD: Coping Strategies and Self-Help Techniques

While professional treatment is crucial for managing OCD, there are several self-help strategies that individuals can employ to cope with their symptoms in daily life:

  1. Mindfulness and meditation practices to increase awareness and reduce anxiety
  2. Stress management techniques, such as deep breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation
  3. Regular exercise to promote overall mental health and reduce stress
  4. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule to support emotional regulation
  5. Joining support groups or online communities to connect with others who understand the challenges of living with OCD
  6. Educating family and friends about OCD to foster understanding and support
  7. Practicing self-compassion and avoiding self-blame for OCD symptoms

How can these coping strategies complement professional treatment? By incorporating these self-help techniques into their daily routines, individuals with OCD can reinforce the skills learned in therapy and develop a more comprehensive approach to managing their symptoms.

The Impact of OCD on Relationships and Quality of Life

OCD can significantly affect an individual’s relationships and overall quality of life. The time-consuming nature of compulsions, avoidance behaviors, and the distress caused by obsessions can interfere with work, school, and social activities. Common challenges faced by individuals with OCD in their relationships include:

  • Difficulty maintaining intimacy due to contamination fears or intrusive thoughts
  • Strain on family members who may become involved in accommodating OCD rituals
  • Social isolation resulting from avoidance behaviors or embarrassment about symptoms
  • Workplace challenges related to time management and productivity
  • Financial stress due to the costs associated with treatment or lost work opportunities

How can individuals with OCD improve their relationships and quality of life? Open communication about OCD symptoms with trusted friends and family members can foster understanding and support. Additionally, involving loved ones in the treatment process through family therapy or psychoeducation can help create a more supportive environment for recovery.

Emerging Research and Future Directions in OCD Treatment

As our understanding of OCD continues to evolve, researchers are exploring new avenues for treatment and prevention. Some promising areas of investigation include:

  • Neuroimaging studies to better understand the brain circuits involved in OCD
  • Genetic research to identify potential risk factors and targets for intervention
  • Novel pharmacological approaches, including glutamate-modulating drugs
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a non-invasive treatment option
  • Deep brain stimulation for severe, treatment-resistant cases
  • Digital health interventions and smartphone apps to support OCD management

What potential benefits could these emerging treatments offer? As research progresses, these new approaches may provide additional options for individuals who don’t respond well to current treatments or offer more targeted interventions based on individual neurobiological profiles.

In conclusion, while the exact causes of OCD remain elusive, our understanding of the disorder and its treatment continues to improve. By recognizing the symptoms, understanding the underlying associations, and embracing evidence-based treatments, individuals with OCD can work towards managing their symptoms and improving their quality of life. As research advances, the future holds promise for even more effective and personalized approaches to OCD treatment.

OCD: Some Facts | Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety

  • Symptoms

  • What causes OCD?

  • Why do you have OCD?

  • The two important associations in OCD

Symptoms

It is estimated that six million people in the USA have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Men and women develop OCD at similar rates and it has been observed in all age groups, from school-aged children to older adults. OCD typically begins in adolescence, but may start in early adulthood or childhood. The onset of OCD is typically gradual, but in some cases it may start suddenly. Symptoms fluctuate in severity from time to time, and this fluctuation may be related to the occurrence of stressful events. Because symptoms usually worsen with age, people may have difficulty remembering when OCD began, but can sometimes recall when they first noticed that the symptoms were disrupting their lives.

As you may already know, the symptoms of OCD include the following:

  • Unwanted or upsetting doubts

  • Thoughts about harm, contamination, sex, religious themes, or health

  • Rituals like excessive washing, checking, praying, repeating routine activities

  • Special thoughts designed to counteract negative thoughts

In addition, you may be aware of certain situations, places, or objects that trigger the distressing thoughts and urges to ritualize. You may find yourself avoiding these situations, places, and objects.

What causes OCD?

The reasons why some people develop obsessions and compulsions while others don’t are unknown. Researchers have considered different types of explanations. Some experts have suggested that some specific “thinking mistakes” about harm occur in OCD. Examples of such thinking mistakes are:

  • Thinking about an action is the same as doing it, or wanting to do it

  • People should control their thoughts

  • If I don’t try to prevent harm, it’s the same as causing harm

  • A person is responsible for harm, regardless of the circumstances

While this theory explains the types of thinking mistakes made by people with OCD, it does not explain why some people develop OCD and others do not.

Many researchers also feel that people with OCD have abnormal brain chemistry involving serotonin, a chemical that is important for brain functioning. Unusual serotonin chemistry has been observed in people with OCD and medications that relieve OCD symptoms also change serotonin levels. However, it is not known whether serotonin chemistry is truly a key factor in the development of OCD. Research results are inconclusive at this point.

There is also evidence that OCD is more prevalent in some families than others. It is difficult to know how much of this is a result of what children learn from their family while growing up, and how much is hereditary.

Why do 

you have OCD?

Many people would like to know what causes this disorder or how they developed it. There are a number of guesses, but there is as yet no satisfactory theory of its development. Most likely, there is a combination of factors (such as biological/genetic and environmental aspects) that contribute to the development of OCD. It is tempting to be overly concerned with the lack of information about how OCD develops. Fortunately, despite our lack of knowledge, there are effective treatments available that do not require an explanation for why or how a person developed OCD.

Scientists do understand a great deal about the symptoms of OCD and this is very important for the treatment of the disorder. In fact, your learning more about your OCD symptoms will help you get more improvement from this treatment. OCD is a set of habits that, as you know, involves intrusive, unwanted, and upsetting thoughts, ideas, images, or impulses (obsessions). Along with these thoughts, you have unwanted feelings of extreme discomfort or anxiety and string urges to do something to reduce the distress. Because of this, people get into the habit of using various special thoughts or actions to try to get rid of the anxiety (compulsive rituals). These habits of thinking, feeling and acting are extremely unpleasant, wasteful, and difficult to get rid of on your own.

The two important associations in OCD

Two types of associations are a very important part of OCD and understanding both of them will help with your therapy. Therapy is designed to break both types of associations. First is the association between certain objects, thoughts, or situations and anxiety/discomfort. For example, think about a situation, thought, or object that you try to avoid or that you endure with suffering because if makes you feel distressed or uncomfortable. It is likely that you have an association between this situation and anxiety or distress.

The second type of association is an association between carrying out rituals and decreasing the distress. In other words, after you carry out your rituals you temporarily feel less distress. Therefore, you continue to engage in this behavior frequently to achieve more relief. Try to identify the situations that increase discomfort (association #1) and then the behaviors or thoughts that you perform to neutralize the discomfort (association #2). Doing this will help you in your treatment.

Unfortunately, doing rituals to reduce distress doesn’t work all that well. Your distress goes down for a short time and comes back again. Often, you find yourself doing more and more ritualizing to try to get rid of the anxiety. Even then, the rituals do not reduce the distress, and before long, you are putting so much time and energy into rituals that other areas of your life get seriously disrupted.

In order to treat OCD, the associations described above must be weakened or broken. Your therapy is designed to do this and your therapist knows exercises that will be helpful in achieving this goal. These exercises are called exposure and ritual prevention and you will learn more about them from your treatment provider.

 

About OCD | Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was described as early as the seventeenth century, when the Oxford Don, Robert Burton, reported a case in his compendium, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621). Modern concepts of OCD began to evolve in France and Germany in the nineteenth century. In the late twentieth century we have begun to understand the biology of this mental disorder, as neurochemical assay and brain imaging techniques have become available.

Age at Onset

OCD usually begins before age 25 years and often in childhood or adolescence. In individuals seeking treatment, the mean age of onset appears to be somewhat earlier in men than women. According to Swedo et al.’s report in 1989, in a series of 70 children and adolescents seen at the National Institute of Mental Health, the mean age of onset was 9.6 years for boys and 11.0 for girls. In a series of 263 adult and child patients, Lensi et al. in 1996 reported that the mean age at onset was 21 years for men and 24 years for women. Still, in another series reported by Rasmussen and Eisen in 1992, the means were 21 years for men and 22 years for women — in this series, major symptoms began before age 15 years in about one-third, before age 25 in about two-thirds, and after age 35 in less than 15%.

In one series of 200 patients reported by Rasmussen and Eisen in 1988, 29% felt that an environmental precipitant had triggered their illness, most frequently increased responsibility, such as the birth of a child, or significant losses, such as a death in the family, while Williams and Koran reported in 1997 that of 100 women in their study, 62% reported premenstrual worsening.

In community surveys, the results are mixed. The Epidemiological Catchment Area survey (ECA), which utilized lay interviewers (trained non-professionals) to examine more than 18,500 individuals in five cities reported a similar mean age of onset for men and women identified as OCD cases (22.4 and 23.0 years). A similar study in Edmonton, Canada reported a slightly later median age of onset for males (age 20 years) than females (age 19 years). Among 56 individuals in their mid-20s with obsessive-compulsive syndrome identified in a Zurich survey, the mean age of onset was 17 years for males and 19 years for females.

Course and Prognosis

For most adult patients who come to treatment, OCD appears to be a chronic condition. In their series of 560 patients in 1988, Rasmussen and Eisen reported that 85% had a continuous course with waxing and waning symptoms, 10% a deteriorative course and only 2% an episodic course marked by full remissions lasting six months or more. An Italian series by Lensi et al. in 1996 reported more patients with episodic or deteriorative courses in which 26% were episodic, 9% were deteriorative, and 64% were chronic. The conclusions drawn from studies that predate current diagnostic criteria, effective treatments and current patterns of health care utilization should not be applied to today’s patients.

The prognosis of children and adolescents who present for treatment appears to be good for half or more. Leonard et al. reported in 1993, that a little more than half of 54 children and adolescents were only mildly affected when evaluated two- to seven- years after vigorous treatment with medications, and less often with behavior therapy. Only six patients (11%) were symptom free, however, and only three of these were taking no medication. A 9 -to 14 -year follow-up study reported that 8 of 14 adolescents who had received medication treatment were medication free and did not meet OCD criteria; the other six had experienced a chronic, or a relapsing and then chronic course, reported Bolton, Luckie and Steinberg in 1995. Finally, Thomsen and Mikkelsen reported in 1995 that a 1.5 to 5 year follow-up of 23 children and adolescents who had recieved drug treatment found that four were free of OCD, eight had subclinical symptoms and the remaining 11 had chronic or episodic OCD. Larger studies from multiple sites are needed to establish accurately the prognosis associated with modern treatment methods.

In community-identified cases, remission, or a course marked by long, symptom-free periods, seems to be the rule. The apparent frequency of this benign course is probably due to the limited diagnostic validity of interviews conducted by lay interviewers and to the large proportion of milder cases in community sample. According to Nelson and Rice in 1997, only 19% (56 of 291 subjects) meeting OCD criteria during their first lay inerview met these criteria duing a lay interview conducted one year later.

Comorbidity

Patients with OCD are at high risk of having comorbid (co-existing) major depression and other anxiety disorders. In a series of 100 OCD patients who were evaluated by means of a structured psychiatric interview, the most common concurrent disorders were: major depression (31%), social phobia (11%), eating disorder (8%), simple phobia (7%), panic disorder (6%), and Tourette’s syndrome (5%). In Koran et al.’s 1998 Kaiser Health Plan study, 26% of patients had no comorbid psychiatric condition diagnosed during the one year study period — 37% had one and 38% had two or more comorbid conditions. These proportions did not differ substantially between men and women. The most commonly diagnosed comorbid conditions were major depression, which affected more than one-half, other anxiety disorders, affecting one-quarter, and personality disorders, diagnosed in a little more than 10%. Panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder were the most common anxiety disorders. Bipolar mood (manic-depressive) disorder was uncommon, but schizophrenia was rare. Except for eating disorders, which were diagnosed in 1 in 20 women, the rates of specific comorbid conditions were not strkingly different between men and women.

OCD seems to be associated with a mildly increased risk for alcohol abuse and dependence. Rates of OCD observed among alcoholic patients admitted to inpatient and outpatient treatment programs exceed the rate in the general population, but not to the extent suggested by Karno et al.’s study in 1988, which attributed alcohol abuse or dependence to 24% of OCD subjects.

Reports of the lifetime rate of body dysmorphic disorder (fear of imagined ugliness) in OCD patients are also prevalent, as well as findings by Barsky in 1992 indicating that patients with hypochondriasis have an elevated lifetime prevalence rate of OCD compared to medical outpatients from the same clinic. Eating disorders may be more common in OCD patients than in the general population, but the data are sparse. According to Rothenberg in 1990, OCD symptoms are common in patients with anorexia nervosa, second only to depressive disorders. Trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling with bald spots) is another comorbidity of OCD, as is Tourette’s syndrome (the combination of behavioral and vocal tics).

Quality of Life

OCD impairs patients’ quality of life. In a study of 60 patients, Koran, Thienemann and Davenport reported in 1996 that medication-free patients with moderate to severe OCD reported worse social functioning and performance in work and other activities than the general population and than patients with diabetes. The more severe the OCD, the more impaired the patients’ social functioning, even after controlling for effects of concurrent depression. Moreover, Rasmussen and Eisen noted in 1992 that another indicator of reduced quality of life is lower likelihood of OCD patients marrying.

The high personal cost of OCD is mirrored in high social costs. The estimated 1990 direct costs of OCD to the United States economy were $2.1 billion, and the indirect cost (i.e., lost productivity) $6.2 billion, reported Dupont et al. in 1995. If a greater proportion of individuals with OCD were in treatment, the direct costs would have been considerable higher. For example,according to Nestadt et al. in 1994, among a random sample of the Baltimore study participants, only 1 of 15 individuals (7%) whom a psychiatrist judged to need treatment was receiving it. Rasmussen and Eisen reported in 1988 that the delay between symptom onset and first seeking care is often prolonged by a mean of seven years, while Marks in 1992 reported 10 years. Even with much treatment foregone, OCD accounted for almost 6% of the estimated 1990 cost of all mental illness. High social costs are also reflected in the high rates of unemployment in OCD patients and receipt of disability and welfare payments, reported Leon, Portera and Wissman in 1995. Family members suffer as well. Many studies indicate that patients’ symptoms may create disharmony, angry or anguished demands for participating in rituals, a draining dependency, restricted access to rooms or living space, difficulty in taking holidays and intereference with work obligations.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – causes, symptoms, signs, examples, diagnosis (test), treatment

Features

Causes

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Treatment

Signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not depend on the will of the person, as they relate to mental illness. There are two main signs:

  • obsessions – obsessive thoughts, ideas, images;
  • compulsions are repetitive actions or rituals.

The second name of the disease is obsessive-compulsive disorder. The content of thoughts and images is perceived by the patient as alien, their pain is recognized, but it is not possible to get rid of them on their own.

Features of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder was described in the first half of the 19th century by the French psychiatrist Esquirol, and was called the “disease of doubt.” Subsequently, scientists identified the main difference between the disease – the patient’s perception of the alienation of the experienced. All other mental illnesses absorb the personality, changing it beyond recognition. A mentally ill person becomes completely different than before the illness. In OCD, the core of the personality remains intact, but the accompanying rituals and experiences are overwhelming, making life difficult. However, there have been cases where a major psychiatric illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) began as OCD.

The morbid state must be distinguished from the natural fear necessary for survival. The fear of depth, the desire to move away from a moving train or a landslide, the desire to hide in an explosion are just reasonable behavior, although tinged with intense fear.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder in women and men occurs with the same frequency of 2 to 5%. Some authors argue that women are more likely to get sick. Statistics are kept only in developed countries where medical care is available. It is not known if the disease occurs elsewhere.

Causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder

There is no final coherent theory regarding the reasons yet. The following options are discussed:

  • hereditary predisposition – violations of the synthesis of neurotransmitters (chemical substances involved in the transmission of nerve impulses) are always of a genetic nature;
  • increased activity of some parts of the brain, namely in the limbic system – the dentate gyrus, the prefrontal part of the cerebral cortex;
  • a decrease in the concentration of substances responsible for emotions (serotonin, dopamine) in the thalamus, cortical circuit;
  • deviations in the work of brain receptors;
  • anomalies in the development of certain zones, in particular the cerebellum and the inferior frontal gyrus;
  • congenital or acquired disorders of nerve impulse transmission.

Changes in the work of the cortex and limbic system occur both for genetic reasons and under the influence of adverse external factors.

The provoking factors are:

  • failures of the immune system;
  • stress, especially chronic;
  • physiological fluctuations in hormonal status in women during pregnancy, childbirth and lactation, as well as during the menstrual cycle;
  • encephalopathies of various origins, especially vascular ones;
  • trauma and surgery on the brain;
  • personal life problems, especially loneliness;
  • alcoholism and drug use;
  • infectious diseases – hepatitis, herpetic lesions, HIV;
  • severe somatic pathology – a chronic increase in thyroid function, inflammation of the kidneys, pancreas, liver, stomach.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder in children develops between the ages of 3 and 12 years, it practically does not occur in babies. The closer to adolescence, the higher the incidence. The biological prerequisites are:

  • intrauterine and early childhood brain damage;
  • violations of the transmission of a nerve impulse, including changes in the number of neurotransmitters;
  • mutation in the gene responsible for the production of serotonin;
  • streptococcal infection in the first year of life.

Psychologists have a slightly different view of the nature of the disorder. The main hypothesis is considered to be psychoanalytic, namely the conflict of internal sexual aggression and parental prohibition on such relationships. It is also noted that OCD is more often formed in people with anancastic (stuck) personality traits. One of the undoubted reasons is a difficult, destructive family environment with constant scandals. The death of a mother in early childhood and the loss of a father after the age of 3 years have an extremely unfavorable effect on health. Too strict upbringing, lack of affection and understanding, excessive parental requirements have a negative impact on children.

Russian physiologist Pavlov believed that the disease develops in people of the thinking type with sluggish (inert) processes of excitation-inhibition.

Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive fears or phobias have many varieties, each of which has its own name:

  • cancerophobia – fear of getting cancer;
  • claustrophobia – closed space;
  • agoraphobia – open areas;
  • thanatophobia – death;
  • arachnophobia – spiders;
  • nosophobia – infection.

Fear has an irrational nature, no beliefs, arguments and evidence have any effect on the patient. To protect against imaginary danger, the patient creates his own rituals or repetitive actions that he performs in strict sequence.

A classic example of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a patient with nosophobia cannot touch anything before washing his hands with hot water and soap three times. In some patients, the fear of infection is so strong that it forces them to wash the floors several times a day with an undiluted disinfectant solution. The fact that there is nothing to breathe in the room and the skin on the hands cracks to blood does not matter to the patient. In such a neglected case, we are no longer talking about any social adaptation, the patient simply cannot leave the house to get to work or walk to the store.

Diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Establishing a diagnosis is the task of a psychiatrist, to whom, unfortunately, the patient does not always get right away. Often, a patient, who is certainly convinced that he has a somatic disease, undergoes a series of various examinations and treatments that do not bring results. Internists (doctors in internal medicine) refer to a psychiatrist after the failure of their own attempts.

It is essential for the diagnosis that the obsessive thoughts or actions take up at least one hour a day. There is a “gold standard” psychological examination for obsessive-compulsive disorder – the Yale Brown test. This is a 10 section questionnaire. Each section has 5 answer options, you need to choose one, the answer is estimated in points. The scores are added up and scored on a scale from 0 to 40, with the highest score indicating extreme OCD. The questionnaire is freely available, you can complete it yourself.

The result of a neurological examination gives non-specific data characteristic of many nervous disorders: trembling of closed eyelids and outstretched arms, increased tendon reflexes, signs of autonomic imbalance. If the organic nature of the disease is suspected, neuroimaging methods (CT, MRI, and the like) are used.

Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Therapy is selected strictly individually, it takes time. Usually combine several methods: both drug and non-drug.

For obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychotropic drugs from the following groups are used:

  • third-generation antidepressants;
  • tranquilizers;
  • atypical neuroleptics.

Psychotropic drugs do not act immediately, it is possible to increase the dose with an interval of 7-14 days. The selection and combination of drugs is a delicate matter, there can be no general recommendations. However, the earlier a person sees a doctor, the less time is required to select a treatment.

Of the psychotherapeutic methods, the following types of therapy have proven themselves well:

  • cognitive-behavioral;
  • exposure method – collision and working out of a disturbing situation;
  • stopping thought – learning to stop the influx of specific obsessions;
  • hypnosis;
  • auto-training;
  • games and fairy tale therapy in children.

Prevention of obsessive-compulsive disorder has not been developed. Recovery is rare, but stubborn treatment can significantly reduce painful manifestations and improve social adaptation. Smoothing of symptoms occurs after 40 years. In severe cases, the third group of disability is established.

Author of the article:

Novikov Vladimir Sergeevich

psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, Ph.D.

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