On 2019-12-16 7:46 p.m., JD Chase wrote:
>
> What a DISGUSTING, DISGRACEFUL, DESPICABLE POS you are Trumpy!!! Robert De Niro is 1000% correct! You are MUCH worse than ANY of the characters he portrayed! You are the WORST of the WORST!!!
>
Virtually everyone has experienced worries, doubts or fears at one time
or another. It’s natural to worry about life issues such as your health
or the well-being of someone you love, paying bills or what the future
will bring. Everyone has also an occasional intrusive thought; it’s not
even abnormal if you’ve had an intrusive “bad” thought. That’s not OCD.
OCD is diagnosed when obsessions and compulsions
Consume excessive amounts of time (an hour or more each day)
Cause significant distress
Interfere with daily functioning at work or school, or with social
activities, family relationships and/or normal routines.
OCD is characterized by obsessive thoughts, impulses, or images and
compulsions (overt or mental rituals) that are difficult to suppress and
take a considerable amount of time and energy away from living your
life, enjoying your family and friends or even doing your job or school
work.
When OCD symptoms are present, it’s important to consult a mental health
professional who is knowledgeable about OCD for evaluation and treatment.
OCD Research and Findings
Doctors and researchers are divided on what causes OCD but many believe
OCD is the result of abnormal brain circuitry function. It tends to be
genetic and symptoms often begin during childhood.
However, research continues. A recent study showed that inflammation of
the brain tissue was 32 per cent higher in the brains of OCD sufferers
compared to others.
Some examples of obsessive thoughts are fear of being hurt, or germs, or
contracting a disease. Compulsions can include repetitive tasks,
frequent hand washing, frequent or repetitive cleaning, checking on things.
The average age of onset is 19 years old. Sometimes the condition
manifests itself temporarily and in some cases it is prevalent for a
lifetime.
OCD can be extremely burdensome to the sufferer, often impacting the
day-to-day life of not only the person with OCD but their families as well.
What are the Symptoms of OCD?
In some cases, compulsions are shaped by the nature of the obsessions.
Compulsive washing, for example, is commonly performed in response to
obsessive fears of contamination. Similarly, a fear of the house
burning down may lead to the excessive checking of the stove, oven, and
iron.
In other cases, obsessions and compulsions are paired in a way that
defies explanation; the compulsive behavior is completely unrelated to
the obsession. For example, a businessman may feel compelled to tap his
desk multiple times to prevent harm from coming to his family while he
is at work.
It’s important to note that some people with OCD perform rituals not in
response to a distinct obsession or fear but rather in response to
certain sensory phenomena. Visual, auditory or tactile sensations may
trigger a need for something to look, sound, or feel “just right.” Upon
seeing a tile floor, for example, a person may experience a need to
trace over each of the tiles mentally in a symmetrical fashion.
In other cases, external triggers are absent, but the individual has an
inner feeling and/or perception of discomfort that causes him or her to
repeat a behavior until the feeling is relieved; the behavior needs to
be repeated until it feels “just right” or “complete.” In still other
situations, repeating behavior is preceded neither by obsessions nor
sensations but rather by a need or urge.
Below are some examples of the more common OCD symptoms. Obsessions are
shown in italics, and rituals that are frequently associated with those
obsessions are listed beneath them.
Fears of germs or contamination
Repeatedly washing hands, using anti-bacterial wipes or hand-sanitizer
“Protecting” what is perceived as “clean” space – personal desk or
locker, other personal property
Seeking reassurance from someone in the environment that others aren’t
“sick” or “dirty”
Avoiding touching “dirty” surfaces that others may have touched,
including common-area objects such as doorknobs, desks, shared supplies,
computer keyboards, soap, cafeteria trays, etc.
Avoiding contact play or sports – either because of a fear of catching a
disease or fear of contaminating others
Avoiding the use of public washrooms
Refusing to share items or supplies with others
Refusing to eat in a cafeteria
Avoiding certain products or surfaces because they may contain “poison”
(for example, cleaning chemicals)
Fears that harm, illness, or death, will befall oneself or others; fear
of causing harm to oneself or others, including violent or aggressive
obsessions (fear of killing or injuring oneself or another person; fear
of molesting a child)
Note: Individuals with OCD who have violent/aggressive thoughts neither
have a history of violence nor act upon these urges or ideas.
“Checking” behavior, such as making sure doors and/or windows are
locked; checking to be sure that oven, stove, coffee pot, iron, curling
iron are off
Checking light switches or turning them on and off repeatedly
Repeatedly checking to see if a child is still breathing during the night
Reading a paragraph over and over again to prevent harm from coming to a
loved one, pet, etc.
Seeking reassurance from someone in the environment that the person
(with OCD) is “safe”
Avoiding leaving a “safe” zone (such as a cubicle, classroom); avoiding
going into certain “unsafe” zones (for example, for lunch or recess areas)
Avoiding open spaces, such as a gymnasium
Unreasonable avoidance of colleagues or peers, for fear of causing them harm
Fears/feelings/urges related to numbers, e.g., “good” numbers, “bad”
numbers, “magical” numbers
“Counting” behavior such as counting, touching or saying words a certain
number of times (believing there is a magical significance to certain
numbers and, for example, using those numbers to “magically” keep harm
from coming to another); counting the number of steps between locations
and having to start over if interrupted
Touching objects a certain number of times; not being able to move on
unless this touching has been accomplished
Reading words or pages a certain number of times, causing delays in
completing work, assignments
Going back and forth through doorways a certain number of times before
it’s OK to enter the room
Avoiding using certain numbers that are “unlucky” or “not safe”; only
using numbers that are “safe” or “lucky.”
Fears/feelings/urges related to discarding something (e.g., fears that
something bad will happen if something is thrown away); feelings of
incompleteness if something is discarded (e.g., need to document and
preserve all life experiences); fears of contamination (excessive
acquisition of items that cannot be touched due to contamination fears;
buying items that a person has touched to avoid contaminating other
people); need to buy items in multiples of a particular number; not
discarding objects to avoid repetitive rituals such as washing or checking
Note: This form of hoarding is related to the obsessions and compulsions
of OCD and is distinct from Hoarding Disorder (see Related Conditions).
Saving useless items – scraps of paper, candy wrappers, bottle caps,
broken items; being unable to part with things that are not needed any more
Holding on to items for fear that they might be needed sometime in the
future, such as books, newspapers, food, school papers
Buying multiples of the same item (e.g., buying in multiples of 3
because it’s a person’s magic number)
Buying every item in a grocery store that one may have touched (and
therefore “contaminated”) to prevent others from being contaminated
Accumulating items or objects in a particular area (e.g., desk drawer)
because they are contaminated and cannot be touched
Excessive fear of violating religious or moral rules (scrupulosity)
Apologizing or confessing that something was (or is thought to have
been) wrong, such as breaking rules, including religious, office,
classroom rules
Constantly seeking reassurance that a task has been completed right or
perfectly; seeking affirmation that a mistake was not made
Saying prayers a certain number of times; excessive praying to atone for
being “bad”; repeatedly confessing perceived “sins” or bad behavior
Repetitive praying or confessing to neutralize or “undo” bad thoughts,
intrusive sexual thoughts, or visions of acting badly, including cursing
or blaspheming at work, school or church
Avoiding answering questions for fear of telling a lie
Fears/feelings/urges related to symmetry or order
Constantly “evening up” items or groups of items, such as books on a
shelf or items on a desk; aligning edges to be “just right” or “even”
Rearranging items to be in a certain order, for example, by color or
alphabetical order
Avoiding a particular room with square tiles (e.g., bathroom); seeing
the tiles would necessitate tracing each of the edges with the eyes
Fears/feelings/urges/images related to sexual content
Doubting one’s sexual orientation, even though there is no evidence to
support this concern
Excessive praying to atone for having inappropriate sexual thoughts or
images
Avoiding TV, magazines, books, DVDs, etc., for fear of seeing something
sexually-related
Excessive doubting/dread of uncertainty
Constantly rechecking to see if everything that should be in a briefcase
or backpack is actually there
Leaving one’s work area to check something, e.g., to check that a car in
a parking lot is actually locked
Avoiding a school locker to prevent having to check the lock over and
over again
Fears/feelings/urges related to having something “just right,” “just so”
or “perfect”
Getting up and sitting down repeatedly at a desk, until the “just right”
feeling has been achieved
Repeatedly revising the way letters, words, numbers, or one’s name is
written to make them look “just right”; getting “stuck” writing the same
letter or word over and over again
Erasing words and rewriting over and over – sometimes until holes are
rubbed in the paper
Extreme slowness with work or school activities – making sure that
everything looks “just right” or is done “just right,” possibly in a
certain order or pattern
Repeating various actions over and over for no apparent reason
Avoiding a hallway in which one must walk repeatedly until it feels
“just right”
Symptoms of OCD vary widely, depending upon the individual and the
situation. Adults and children experience many symptoms other than those
mentioned above. Interestingly, the majority of people with OCD are
able to function reasonably well, and friends or co-workers may not even
suspect there’s a problem. But when symptoms escalate to the point that
they interfere with functioning – excessive time is lost from work, an
individual is unable to work, a student who normally receives good
grades in school suddenly receives poor grades, uncontrollable fear and
anxiety are severely straining a relationship – it’s time to get help.
How Effective are OCD Medications?
Medications are ineffective for nearly one in three people with OCD.
Nonetheless, conventional therapies include anti-anxiety and
antidepressant medications along with behavioral therapies and
psychotherapy.
Antipsychotic medications are becoming a more accepted treatment method.
The good news is clinicians are becoming increasingly able to offer
personalized treatment regimens.
Medications and therapy are the short-term treatment protocol for OCD
and where these are effective they become the long-term management
solution. OCD is never cured, only managed.
Postpartum OCD (PPOCD)
Over the years, the condition experienced by many new mothers known as
post-partum depression has received increased attention. Perhaps not as
widely recognized, however, is that although reported figures vary, an
estimated two to three percent of new mothers develop postpartum OCD
(PPOCD). With this disorder, a woman may have obsessive intrusive
thoughts about her baby’s safety. Symptoms include:
excessively washing or sterilizing baby bottles
excessively washing baby clothing, or washing other family members’
clothing repeatedly
isolating the baby to keep family members or others from “contaminating”
the baby
constantly checking on the baby
experiencing persistent and terrifying fears of harming the baby
Everyone from family members to friends expects a new mother to be
joyful. But society doesn’t realize that PPOCD can leave a new mother
feeling devastated and exhausted. Untreated PPOCD can have a negative
impact a mother’s ability to care for her child and severely strain her
marriage, friendships, and other relationships.
Effective individualized treatment for both post-partum depression and
PPOCD (which frequently occur together) is available and can enable a
new mom to manage her symptoms. As with other types of OCD, postpartum
OCD usually responds to medications (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and
cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Although serotonin reuptake
inhibitors are effective treatments for OCD, their risks to the unborn
and breast-feeding child are not yet well known. Many experts believe
these medications probably pose no danger, but it’s important to discuss
the possible risks with your doctor on an individual basis. A safer,
yet more challenging treatment approach, is CBT, which has been
demonstrated to be more effective than medications for non-postpartum OCD.