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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Hi Friends,
So as per my promise, here comes my first article on psychology.
This is one of my favourite topics, as I myself is a victim of it :)
Yes "obsessive compulsive disorder" is one of the most common mental disorder, present in 1 out of every 4 person, although in varying quantities.
Being obsessive here implies, repetitive thinking about anything, and being compulsive implies doing actions that one feel will stop these thoughts.
I'll share my experiences that are a diagnosis for this disease..
I used to walk inside tiles during my childhood and avoided lines, and I did so cause I felt relief from some fear....interesting isn't it?
I bet few of you would have experienced that, but a more common one of these symptoms was my repetitive handwashing after very short periods of time, even when when I touched nothing.
But am glad my disorder was limited, and the best thing is I have cured myself out of it :) and yes it can be done.
Some more serious symptoms can be preoccupation with sexual or aggressive impulses, or with particular religious beliefs; aversion to odd numbers; and nervous habits, such as opening a door and closing it a certain number of times before one enters or leaves a room. 
These are basically anxiety disorders whose reason may be a nuerotransmitter called serotin or it can occur due to mutation as well (genetic).
An interesting fact is that people with this disorder have more grey matter as compared to normal people, and they think far more than normal people (although much of thinking is repetitive ).
But this disease can be a serious ailment when caused in extreme, some of its severe implications are:
Eating disorders, people may use alcohol or drugs to avoid such thoughts, people become less sensitive to emotions, and sometimes become too possessive for their partners.

This disease can b cured in various ways, from light treatment to serious ones.
The most simple way of treating it is to notice the compulsions and then intentionally  avoid them, like when you walk inside tiles, step on the lines and tell yourself that see nothing happened :)
In some serious cases where this cannot be done, medication and electroconvulsive therapy has to be conducted, for which you definitely need a doctor.
In case of children,
Family involvement, in the form of behavioral observations and reports, is a key component to the success of such treatments. Parental intervention also provides positive reinforcement for a child who exhibits appropriate behaviors as alternatives to compulsive responses. After one or two years of therapy, in which a child learns the nature of his or her obsession and acquires strategies for coping, that child may acquire a larger circle of friends, exhibit less shyness, and become less self-critical.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice article.... u have done good research on the topic and presented it very well with illustration... i remember your habits of cleaning hands too often and not stepping on the lines...
    Keep posting these interesting articles...

    Rahul

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  2. m sufferin from this since my childhood....like i use to keep my feet on every 3rd tile while walking n not just that it was kinda existed everywhere....but u know ignorance to such things is a bliss as when i searched y i did what i did was no help, now i know that its ok to b a ocd but as a kid it was kinda harsh on me to take myself as a mental guy....n yaar OCD is not just OCD it hits your behavior in many ways n it did tht with me....
    Nice Writeup dude...n if can write(farmaish/gusarish) write on ATT

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