OCD
- OCD comprises obsessions, compulsions, or both.
- They must be present for at least 2 week period.
- The prevalence rate in the general population is 2%.
- Obsessions are ideas, images, impulses that enter the patient’s mind again and again in a stereotyped form which cause distress and the patient is unable to resist them.
- Thoughts are recognized as one’s own even though they are involuntary and often repugnant.
- Some common types of obsessions are contamination fears, intrusive violent thoughts, and images, fear of harming yourself or others, etc.
- Compulsions are stereotyped behaviors that are repeated again and again.
- Compulsive acts try to neutralize the anxiety that arises from obsessive thoughts.
- Some common types of compulsions are cleaning/washing, arranging and rearranging objects, checking electrical appliances or locks, etc, hoarding a large number of items, etc.
- Depression and anxiety are common along with OCD symptoms.
