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About Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is characterized by anxious thoughts or rituals that feel beyond your control. If you have OCD, you are plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images (obsessions), or by the urgent need to carry out certain ritualized behaviors (compulsions). If you resist carrying out the rituals, tension builds to the point of seeming unbearable. Carrying out the rituals results in temporary relief from the tension, but the behaviors are not pleasurable.
"My life was taken over by the need to perform rituals, and by irrational thoughts that I couldn’t shake. When going up stairs, I had to count the stairs. If I thought I had lost count, I had to start again. I had to take an even number of stairs. If it was going to be an odd number, I had to skip a step to make it even. I had to turn the lights on and off a certain number of times. I had to go back and check the stove over and over, because I worried I might have somehow left it on and the house would burn down. I know I hadn’t, yet I had to keep checking! The house had to be perfectly in order, or I couldn’t rest. The tension was unbearable when I tried to resist the compulsions. I’d have a terrible thought, like, “What if I stab my wife with this knife.” That’s not something I’d ever do, but thoughts like that would torment me. I had to keep washing my hands, to get rid of germs. I was fearful of contaminating myself or others. I knew the thoughts and the rituals were ridiculous, but I couldn’t stop until I got treatment.”
Many healthy people experience some of these symptoms, such as needing to check things several times or having occasional odd thoughts. OCD is diagnosed when these symptoms are so frequent and intense that they result in significant loss of quality of life.
OCD seems to run in families. It usually first shows up in adolescence or early adulthood, or sometimes in childhood. The course of OCD varies. Symptoms may come and go, they may ease over time, or they may grow progressively worse.
Treatment
As with other anxiety disorders, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and/or medication is the treatment of choice. Some individuals respond best to psychotherapy, others to medication, and many others to a combination. |
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Copyright 1999. Geraldine T. Merola, Ph.D. All rights reserved. |
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Contact Dr. Barton: |
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Geraldine T. Barton, Ph.D. Phone: 845-338-3250 159 Green Street Email: drgmbarton@drgmbarton.com Kingston, NY 12401 |
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All information on this web site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical, psychological or psychiatric advice or treatment for specific conditions. You should seek prompt care for any specific medical or mental health issues. |
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Clinical Psychologist |
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Geraldine Merola Barton, Ph.D. |