Excessive Compulsive Disorder
"I know my hands are clean. I know that I have touched nothing dangerous. But... I doubt my perception. Soon, if I do not wash, a mind numbing, searing anxiety will cripple me. A feeling of stickiness will begin to spread from the point of contamination and I will be lost in a place I do not want to go. So I wash until the feeling is gone, until the anxiety subsides. Then I feel defeated. So I do less and less, my world becomes smaller and smaller and more lonely by the day" (Healthy Place: OCD Community). The writer of this poem has a disease call Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In OCD, it is as though the brain gets stuck on a particular thought or urge and just can't let go. OCD can persist throughout a person's life, gradually worsening. If not treated, OCD can drastically affect all aspects of a person's life: work, school, friends, and family (Weiskopf). Worries, doubts, and superstitious beliefs all are common in everyday life. However, when they become so excessive as to interrupt one's daily life, then the diagnosis is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disorder that is not commonly heard of, but surprisingly it affects 2% of the population, more
These intrusions can only be banished by the performance of compulsive rituals. Compulsions are repeated, purposeless, and elaborately time-consuming behaviors that are usually performed in response to an obsession. The behaviors are an attempt to neutralize or prevent a dreadful event from happening. Some common compulsions include excessive hand washing, showering, checking, counting, and hoarding. Compulsions can be thoughts or physical behaviors that may or may not be set to some self-imposed rules. The person realizes that their compulsions are senseless and irrational, but do not stop because they are worried about the consequences that may follow (Penzel 5). If ignored, compulsions can cause serious panic attacks. But the sad thing about it is that doing the rituals do not help; they only make things worse (Cronin). Currently, there are a number of disorders that can be labeled as an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Among these is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD is where a person has obsessive thoughts about his or her body, looking for abnormalities. They then spend hours examining the "defective" body part and may never leave home because of their embarrassment. Another OCD disorder is Trichotillomania (TTM). A person with TTM compulsively pulls out hairs from their head, arms, legs, eyebrows, and pubic area. TTM sufferers spend hours searching until the "perfect hair" is found. They often feel driven to pull out their hairs because they think that their hairs are imperfect. Tourette's Syndrome is another OCD disorder where the patient is subjected to uncontrollable motor activities. The person may blink, twitch, jerk their head, or repeat obscene words or noises uncontrollably. Some others include Kleptomania, Anorexia, and Binge Eating (
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Approximate Word count = 1189
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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