Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study

To diagnosis a psychological disorder more affectly, health professionals refer to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM. DSM has its flaws but it is still consider the most frequent tool that helps diagnosis disorders. One of the most dramatic disorder is the Obsessive-Compulsive disorder or OCD. People with this disorder may not even know they have an obsession or they do know and they try and ignore it; this does not work. They will become distress and have anxiety until obsession is performed. OCD can be passed on from parent to child and the disorder usually appears in young children, adolescence or early adulthood. OCD is center around a theme such as repetitive washing for fear of germs, arranging things in a certain way, checking …show more content…
A biological explanation can cause OCD like experiencing head trauma. Imaging of brain activity shows that people with this disorder have lower than normal amounts of serotonin activity than those with the lowest experience severe OCD. In the DSM it states that engaging in compulsive behavior for more than an hour per day is to be considered abnormal. Social explanations seem to have a role in the culture sense meaning that a patient’s surroundings can intensify. For instance, being in public places can cause severe OCD in someone who is afraid of germs.To treat OCD a combination of medications with cognitive behavioral therapy can help with the obsessions. Therapy teaches people to confront their fears and reduce their anxiety without performing ritual behaviors. Antidepressants and some psychotics are used in medication therapy and in severe cases electroconvulsive therapy is used. ECT works by sending small currents through electrodes which are placed on the scalp while the patient sleeps; though it causes brief seizures but with repeated treatment of ECT it will improve symptoms in some