Dealing with obsessive compulsiveness
Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. How clean can hands get? This is an example of what some people who have obsessive compulsive disorder do when they want to ensure clean hands. But washing hands too often makes them dry out and can lead to cracking and bleeding.
OCD is a neurological disorder where obsessive or repetitive behaviors or compulsions frequently come to an OCD sufferer, according to the Web site www.ocfoundation.org. Created by the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, this site aims to help educate people about the disorder as well as provide help and contact numbers for those who suffer from it. These unwelcome thoughts that “OCD sufferers feel driven to perform,” the site states, are hard to control.
“People with OCD know their obsessions and compulsions are irrational or excessive, yet they have little or no control over them,” the site states.
Typical obsessions OCD people may suffer from vary from a fear of dirt, germs, acting out violently or having impulses to do so, overly concerned with order or symmetry, or feeling it is their responsibility to take care of others when it is out of their control. The site states that some of the compulsions can be repetitive washing of hands, counting, touching something, or arranging things in a particular way. OCD people believe these rituals cannot be broken, the site states.
Melissa Allen, freshman in nutrition, said she knows someone that has mild OCD.
“He used to wash his hands all the time, and his knuckles would get cracked and would start bleeding,” Allen said. “And then he had started using lotions, but the lotions would bother him so he would wash them again. It was a vicious cycle.”
The Web site states symptoms of OCD that may be observed are depression, demoralization, intense anxiety, plucking out hair or eyebrows, obsessing over a barely noticeable or nonexistent bodily defect or nail biting.
The Web site also stated OCD is the fourth most common neuropsychiatric illnesses in the United States and that at least 5 million people in the U.S. are showing symptoms of the disorder.
If left untreated, OCD can become disabling in some individuals. For some, symptoms of OCD can be kept under control with the symptoms growing stronger to less obvious through time. According the the Web site, how disabling OCD can be ranges from person to person. Some are crippling and hospitalization for an individual may be needed. But no matter how long the symptoms last, it affects the person and takes a toll on them and their family.
Missy Brunisholz, senior in journalism, said one of her friends was hospitalized at Primary Children’s Hospital after dealing with OCD for six years.
“He wouldn’t eat, couldn’t leave or come back to the house without performing certain rituals,” Brunisholz said.
The Web site states that people who suffer from the disorder are not crazy even if the actions that they portray may seem that way. People with the disorder are aware what they are doing is irrational and ‘crazy,’ and it often causes them to fear what people will think of them. Sometimes, it states, they try to find a way to hide it. This can cause them to avoid seeking treatment.
Although the cause of OCD is unknown, the Web site states researchers suspect a biochemical imbalance is involved.
“Alterations in one or more of the brain’s chemical systems that regulate repetitive behaviors may be related to the cause of OCD,” it states. “These balances may be inherited.”
It also states that stress may increase symptoms.
Some of the common treatments for OCD are cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications. In some of these treatments, the site states that the person suffering from OCD will voluntarily expose themselves to objects or ideas that they fear in attempt to get past it. Doing this over and over can reduce anxiety and eventually really help the person. Medications can also be prescribed to people to help that have been shown in studies to be successful.
For more information, visit www.ocfoundation.org
-jess.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu