Skip to main content

All you need to know about OCD - Obsessive–compulsive disorder

What is OCD
  • It is a neurobiological disorder caused by the deficiency of a neuro-chemical in the brain called serotonin, which triggers obsessions that are characterised by repetitive thoughts which are intrusive in nature. OCD traps a person in a vicious cycle of obsessions, and this leads to anxiety, fear, tension or irritation. Engaging in compulsive behaviour allows the person to lower that anxiety temporarily, but a fresh obsession is triggered soon enough.

Treating OCD
  • Depending on the severity of the case, the doctor treats the patient through medication or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In some cases, due to their severity, doctors use medicines and CBT to treat the patient. The treatment is often for 16 to 20 sessions, with one session lasting 60 minutes. Early identification and motivation towards treatment is the key to recovery.
  • So when do you have to seek treatment? When the obsessive behaviour is time-consuming, causing substantial distress and severely affecting work, family and social life, it is time.

Most get the condition before the age of 25
  • A whopping 65 per cent of people who develop OCD do so before the age of 25. For less than 15 per cent, it happens after 35. OCD is equally prevalent among male and female adults, but when it comes to adolescents the condition is more common among boys, Nimhans studies show.

TYPES OF OCD
* Contamination obsession
  • A person suffering from this condition has a fear of contamination by dust, dirt and even body fluids. He avoids touching objects, relies excessively on hand sanitizers, and is constantly washing his hands with soap and water. In extreme cases, he may spend hours in the bathroom

* Aggressive obsession
  • In this condition, the patient is convinced that a close family member or a friend will come to harm. He becomes consumed with checking up on them. In one case, a son would call up his mother 30 times a day just to make sure she is safe.

*Pathological doubts
  • It’s typified by constant doubts and worries. For instance, the patient may always be checking to ensure that the doors are locked, or that the geyser is switched off. Repeated counting of cash and other items in large numbers is also a trait. The actions cause distress and often extend to a condition termed ‘proxy compulsion’, where the person forces a family member check on the door locks, thus resulting in tension and quarrels.

* Hoarding obsession
  • When an object, possibly old and unusable, is dear to the patient, he will not discard it at any cost. An attempt by someone else to dispose of the item can cause angry behaviour in the person. There are even cases where people are compelled to save a room full of items and ‘protect’ them from others.

* Sexual obsession
  • Images of known persons constantly cross the mind of the person, and he often imagines physical intimacy with the individual(s). The patient rarely acts on the thought but constantly asks forgiveness in his mind for thinking so. The situation leads to severe discomfort, especially when encountering the person at a family gathering or workplace.

* Symmetry obsession
  • The person seeks extreme perfection at home or workplace and gets angry beyond reason when someone disrupts the order and misplaces or takes away a particular item, be it a book, cup, pen or paper clip.

* Religious obsession
  • It arises when a person carries out severe mental rituals, mainly prayer and obsession, towards god and religious practices.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Tech Vision-2035

India Tech Vision-2035 India's technology thinktank under the ministry of science & technology has come out with `Technology Vision 2035' here at the ongoing Indian Science Congress, identifying the challenges ahead and how they can be dealt with through technological interventions while realising the dream of a developed India by the year 2035. The thinktank -Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) -in the vision document lists a technology roadmap for India, giving details of 12 sectors and technologies that in some cases exist but need to be deployed, some in the pilot stage that must be scaled up and technologies in R&D stage. It, in fact, talks about many future technologies, ranging from flying cars, real time translation software, personalised medicine, wearable devices, e-sensing (e-nose and e-tongue) to 100% recyclable materials among others which may be used in different areas to solve day-to-day problems “The trajectories del...
Post a Comment
Read more

Delhi Dialogue to focus on trading blocs (TPP) and Impact of TPP on India-ASEAN ties

Delhi Dialogue to focus on Impact of TPP on India-ASEAN ties The  impact of the U.S.-led mega trading and political blocs on India-ASEAN ties  is likely to be the highlight of the 8th round of  Delhi Dialogue . One emerging mega bloc, the  Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), received a major boost recently with the joining of Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore (ASEAN Countries). Diplomats are concerned that India will have to adjust to  the new set of security and economic rules  as increasing number of Southeast Asian countries join TPP, which began taking shape with the arrival of President Barack Obama to the White House in 2009. “The process of joining TPP by several countries in Southeast Asia has highlighted the conflicting segments in the Southeast Asian region. Delhi Dialogue will give us a chance to assess how India will have to adjust to these mega trading and political blocs  emerging in this region which is vital fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

12 April is Observed as International Day of Human Space Flight

12th April is being observed as the International Day of Human Space Flight to commemorate the date of the first human space flight in the history of mankind every year.  In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Union (USSR) cosmonaut undertook first successful first human space flight on this day. And this historic occasion had opened the way for space study for the benefit of all humanity. This historic day is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day in Russia and some other former USSR countries. This year 2016 is 55th anniversary of First Human Space Flight. Background After UN General Assembly had passed its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, United Nations (UN) had declared 12th of April as the International Day of Human Space Flight. The main objective behind international celebration of this day is to memories each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind. It also aims to reaffirm the important role of space science and technology...
Post a Comment
Read more