Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, commonly referred to as OCD, is an anxiety disorder. Although the thoughts associated with this disorder are quite bizarre, they are not the focal point and do not make up the entire disorder. The essential features of an obsessive-compulsive person are recurrent obsessions, or thoughts, that create an awareness of alarm or a threat. Examples of these thoughts are such as "Someone can get sick from that band-aide if I don't pick it up", "If I touch that doorknob, I could get really sick", and "Since I was capable of thinking that terrible though, I might be capable of acting it out." People who suffer with this disorder typically engage in some avoidance or escape response to whatever it is that threatens them. Obsessions can take on the form a few different things. It can be a perceived threat of harm coming to oneself or others or it can take on the threat of harming someone's spiritual or metaphysical self, or perhaps even a deity. In approximately 80% of all cases, the obsessive-compulsive person performing these rituals are completely aware that the behavior they have taken on is not only unreasonable, but also irrational. Unfortunately, even though the person has these realizations, it
will make the sufferer more up to dealing with the anxiety and make them realize they can tolerate it. This will also help in the realization that the anxiety is going to be there. There are a few branches of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The most common and well studied is the obsession-compulsion (OC) where the undoing response is used as the person fears contamination of some form. With this OC, the person has trouble with the mere thought of the presence of contaminants such as dirt or germs evoke a threat. These people constantly perform cleansing rituals in order to exterminate the threat. The cleansing rituals usually include excessive hand washing, excessive showers, and excessive amounts of cleaning. Body dysmorphia is a more obscure form of OCD. It is a condition where the person becomes excessively focused (obsessed) on a particular body part and feels that it is disgustingly disfigured. Usually, this body part would not be considered so deformed by the person's peers. However, this person engages in constant checking rituals to gain reassurance that the severity of the deformity is not as they see it. They often go for constant plastic surgery or do other things to change the disfigured body part. Olfactory Obsession is another subcategory where a person believes that noxious odors are being emitted from a certain body part. Usually, the fear is of odor coming from the underarms, breath, genitals, or feet. The last branch of OCD is much more complex and difficult to treat. It is called hyperscrupulosity, more commonly known as responsibility OC. With this OC, the Ordering is a subcategory of OCD where a person must place items in a designated spot or order. This person has a fear of being overwhelmed or face impending anarchy if things are not placed in a pre-determined place. Usually people with this disorder line up things in parallel locations, but the true focus is that each item is in a specific place. Another form is perfectionism. Perfectionism is where the person feels compelled to check habitually for mistakes or errors that could reveal their own faults or the faults of others, which could potentially jeopardize them.
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Approximate Word count = 2309
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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