The Truth About Obsessions And Compulsions

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder may be one of the most popular disorders to talk about or to even make fun of. The obvious routines and endless rituals fascinate the imaginations of many everyday people. There are many commonly believed myths in existence about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, however. Obsessions in the sense of the disorder are not what are typically thought of as obsessions. The same is true of compulsions. As far as how severely a person can be affected in his or her day to day life by the obsessions and compulsions though, there is probably no exaggeration present. Frustrations are endless when it comes to this particular disorder for some people.

Obsessions
Obsessions are not pleasant thoughts that people indulge and therefore obsess about. Obsession refers to a thought that is almost definitely unpleasant and abnormal that will not leave a person’s mind. These thoughts are typically unrealistic, but very disturbing. An obsessive person probably cannot rid his or her mind of doing something that they would actually never do. They may also be helplessly obsessive about something happening that is almost guaranteed never to happen to them. Nevertheless, the obsessive person cannot stop thinking about the scenario or proposed fact. For our purposes, we’ll imagine that someone is obsessed with the idea of their house burning down. No matter what, they cannot quit thinking that such a disaster is imminent.

Compulsions
Compulsions, like obsessions, are not pleasurable. Activities that people generally think of as describing compulsive behavior, such as gambling, are actually impulsive. Compulsion implies that a person is virtually forced into action even though they do not want to complete that action. Compulsion is almost always linked to obsession. When dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the psychiatric patient feels that some actions are compulsory in order to cope with the obsession that plagues them. In the case of our person who is obsessed with the idea of a house fire, the compulsion will probably have to do with fire prevention. While it is a fabulous idea to turn off your oven to prevent a house fire, a compulsive person will make sure that their oven is off over and over and over again.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
As with most psychiatric disorders, this disorder is only diagnosed when a person’s life is severely affected. Having routines and occasional irrational thoughts does not qualify a person for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A true sufferer of the disorder will spend significant time in rituals designed to cope with their obsession. They probably even realize the illogical nature of checking that the oven is off for the twentieth time, but must check in order to defeat the anxiety associated with an obsession over a house fire. Dealing with some anxiety though will help a person to overcome obsessive compulsive tendencies. If our example patient is not allowed to check his oven more than once each evening, he will eventually be able to put away the anxiety and worry about his house burning down as a result. The earlier the treatment happens, the easier it will be to overcome the difficulties.

Frances, Allen MD and First, Michael B. MD. Your Mental Health: A Layman’s Guide to
the Psychiatrist’s Bible. New York: Scribner, 1998.

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