Obsessive compulsive disorder is a kind of illness in which the person suffering from experiences obsessions and react on them through compulsion. Obsession crop-ups when the brain produces repetitive thoughts that generate anxiety. The concentration hinders the person from controlling their thinking. Compulsions can be described as the actions which are physical or mental thoughts which a person carries out to decrease the anxiety feeling. A good example of obsession is a feeling that an evil thing will happen to a certain person. That kind of obsession results to compulsions that make the patient to perform a ritual or pray to make sure that no one will be harmed. Surprisingly, the patient senses that the obsessions and compulsions are actually “unwanted, excessively and unreasonably” but he or she can’t stop listening to the thoughts and taking action on them due to the feeling of dread experienced till the compulsions are performed correctly.
Obsessive compulsion disorder is very common. Statistics show that 1:40 people (2.5% of the population) suffer from clinical OCD. However, the signs are severe to disrupt daily functions. Approximately 10% of the same population suffer from sub-clinical OCD whereby their thoughts are intrusive therefore they don’t damage daily life or the ability to function. Scientists divide the study of OCD into two areas, (mechanism of OCD)-how the thoughts are repeated in the brain. And the (OCD contents) - related thoughts. Through quite a number of studies, researchers have discovered that, OCD mechanism is neurologically mediated. In contrast, the contents of the OCD are best understood through conventional psychoanalysis in which the persons affected discuss their fears, belief and backgrounds with psychotherapists to solve their problems.
OCD was once believed to be a mental condition by psychiatrists. But studies revealed that OCD results from a particular damaged part in the brain referred as the basal ganglia. The...