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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)



What is obsessive compulsive disorder?

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder which can affect people of all walks of life. You will experience a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears, or obsessions, that lead you to do repetitive behaviours and compulsions. These obsessions and compulsions affect your daily activities and cause you significant distress.


Everyone is not “a little OCD” this is a very harmful expression as just because someone likes things neat, tidy, and clean does not mean they have an obsession or compulsion.


Compulsions are repetitive behaviours that you can repeat for hours on end, making you unable to do or think about anything else until you feel ‘right’. You may feel these rituals are necessary to prevent negative consequences or they help to reduce your anxiety due to the obsessions.


OCD can be expressed in many different ways and affects men, women, and children of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities.


Around 500,000 people in Australia are affected by OCD.


What are the main types of obsessive compulsive disorder?

1. Checking - you have the need to check door locks or windows, alarms, stove knobs, water taps, house lights, re-reading texts, valuable items, or past memories. Checking is often carried out multiple times a day, sometimes hundreds of times, and can cause significant impact on your ability to hold down jobs and relationships as you may not be able to leave your house for hours while you check and double check.


2. Contamination and washing - you have obsessive thoughts and worry about getting sick and spreading germs. Your compulsions may lead you to wash your hands so much that they bleed, overuse bleach or other cleaning products, avoid touching communally used objects like doorknobs, or going to public bathrooms.



3. Order/symmetry or counting - you experience a compulsion to arrange items in your home until it looks or feels ‘right’, move items or perform actions a certain number of times, count items like steps repeatedly, or say phrases many times.


4. Intrusive thoughts – you suffer obsessive thoughts that are repetitive, disturbing and often horrific repugnant in nature. These may include worrying that you’ll harm yourself or others, sexual, or taboo thoughts. You may obsess over your relationships, sexual orientation, or your body such as how your breathing, blinking, salivating, swallowing, or an acute awareness of a body part like the side of your nose while trying to read.


How does obsessive compulsive disorder impact life?

OCD can affect you at any stage of your life and may cause distress whether you’re in your own home or out and about in public. You may have compulsions which cause you to clean or check items for hours on end making it impossible to leave your house in time for work, school, appointments, or social engagements.


If you’re suffering from perfectionism-related obsessions, then you may not be able to perform simple tasks at school or work.


What treatments are available?

Treatments typically include medication, psychotherapy or a combination of the two. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI), or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are used to help reduce the symptoms of OCD.


The most effective therapy has been found to be cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), more specifically, exposure and response prevention (ERP). Support groups are also available to help.


Our support team can help you in your everyday life to experience a greater quality of life by ensuring you’re eating healthy, nutritious meals, attending appointments, keeping yourself and home clean and hygienic, as well as accessing the community and rebuilding interpersonal skills.


Sources:

https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment/

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