What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer intensely from recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or ritual (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety. Left untreated, obsessions and the need to perform rituals can take over a person's life. OCD is often a chronic, relapsing illness. Fortunately, effective treatments have been developed to help people with OCD.
How Common is OCD?
• OCD affects about 2.2 million American adults, and can be accompanied by eating disorders, other anxiety disorders, or depression.
• OCD affects men and women equally.
• OCD typically begins during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood; at least one-third of the cases of adult OCD began in childhood. Research also indicates that OCD might run in families.
What Causes OCD?
There is growing evidence that OCD represents abnormal functioning of brain circuitry. OCD is not caused by family problems or attitudes learned in childhood, such as an inordinate emphasis on cleanliness, or a belief that certain thoughts are dangerous or unacceptable. Brain imaging studies using a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) have compared people with and without OCD. Those with OCD have patterns of brain activity that differ from people with other mental illnesses or people with no mental illness at all. In addition, PET scans show that in patients with OCD, both behavioral therapy and medication produce changes. This is graphic evidence that both psycotherapy and medication affect the brain.
What Treatments Are Available for OCD?
Treatments for OCD have been developed through research institutions. These treatments, which combine medications and behavioral therapy (a specific type of psycotherapy), are often effective. Behavioral Therapy alone is also effective.
A type of behavioral therapy known as "exposure and response prevention" is very useful for treating OCD. In this approach, a person is deliberately and voluntarily exposed to whatever triggers the obsessive thoughts, and then is taught techniques to avoid performing the compulsive rituals and to deal with anxiety.
Can People With OCD Also Have Other Illnesses?
OCD is sometime accompanied by depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or other anxiety disorders. When a person also has other disorders, OCD is often more difficult to dignose and treat.
Symptoms of OCD can also coexist and may even be part of a spectrum of other brain disorders, such as Tourette's syndrome. Appropriate dignosis and treatment of other disorders are important to successful treatment of OCD.
*Source: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)