Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder which an individual experience “unwanted, reoccurring obsessive thoughts and behaviors that reduce the anxiety of the obsessions.” (NIMH » Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml). Those who suffer from OCD often repeat certain actions such as “washing their hands, checking, cleaning, counting, and arranging items in certain ways”. (NIMH » Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml). Before reading Sarah’s case, I did not think that individuals who develop
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When Sarah was in college, she was experiencing symptoms of OCD, but her symptoms did not have a severe impact on her day-to-day functioning. It was not until the traumatic events (the attempted rape and the exposure to a minor car accident) that Sarah’s symptoms became increasingly severe. Before she left for work every morning, Sarah would “perform a large number of rituals, such as turning off the stove, closing the windows, and making sure all appliances were unplugged to verify that everything in the apartment was being left in a safe condition.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: …show more content…
I believe that the idea of having Sarah “keep all her appliances plugged in and only checking the appliances once” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.) was the most effective exercise. Sarah the next session noted that “she had been able to keep the new morning and evening checking procedure 95% of the time.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.). The exercise that I thought was the least successful was in session 10 where Dr. Laslow wanted Sarah to carry knives when her fiancée was in the same room and exposed to a visualize exercise where Sarah “described stabbing James and setting his building on fire.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.). Sarah reported that she “experienced high anxiety in the beginning of the session, but then the anxiety decreased towards the end of the session.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J.
When Sarah was in college, she was experiencing symptoms of OCD, but her symptoms did not have a severe impact on her day-to-day functioning. It was not until the traumatic events (the attempted rape and the exposure to a minor car accident) that Sarah’s symptoms became increasingly severe. Before she left for work every morning, Sarah would “perform a large number of rituals, such as turning off the stove, closing the windows, and making sure all appliances were unplugged to verify that everything in the apartment was being left in a safe condition.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: …show more content…
I believe that the idea of having Sarah “keep all her appliances plugged in and only checking the appliances once” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.) was the most effective exercise. Sarah the next session noted that “she had been able to keep the new morning and evening checking procedure 95% of the time.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.). The exercise that I thought was the least successful was in session 10 where Dr. Laslow wanted Sarah to carry knives when her fiancée was in the same room and exposed to a visualize exercise where Sarah “described stabbing James and setting his building on fire.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J. (2002). Case studies in abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth.). Sarah reported that she “experienced high anxiety in the beginning of the session, but then the anxiety decreased towards the end of the session.” (Gorenstein, E. E., & Comer, R. J.