Most patients diagnosed with OCD suffer from both obsessive and compulsive behaviors, although it is possible that one type…
People with OCD may have symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, or both. These symptoms can interfere with all aspects of life, such as work, school, and personal relationships ("NIMH » Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder"). Seth had an obsession with drawing penises. He would spend his entire day drawing penises. He was very ashamed of this practice and he thought it was something wrong with him.…
Obsessive compulsion disorder, also known as O.C.D, is a mental disorder where a person feels the need to repeat things over and over again until he or she feels satisfied. Psychologist call the need to repeat things over and over again a ritual. While only 2.3% of the U.S population has O.C.D (mHMR), not all O.C.D is the same. One person may feel the need to always wash their hands, while another may feel the need to turn a doorknob a certain amount of times. Doctors do not know what cause O.C.D, but they can most likely assume it is from genetics, stress, trauma, or a chemical imbalance in the brain.…
Criteria A in the DSM-5 indicates that to have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder a person must show signs of having obsessions, compulsions, or signs of both (Nolen-Hoeksema & Marroquin, 2017). According to Nolen-Hoeksema and Marroquin (2017) obsessions are defined by two things, the first by having “recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in most individuals cause anxiety or distress” (p. 140). The second thing is that the “individual attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, urges, images, or to neutralize them with another thought or action”; for example, having a compulsion (Nolen-Hoeksema & Marroquin, 2017, p. 140). Such “compulsions are defined by having repetitive behaviors like hand washing, ordering, and checking or having mental acts like praying, counting, or repeating words silently which drives the individual to perform in response to an obsession or to something that must be done rigidly” (Nolen-Hoeksema & Marroquin, 2017, p. 140). It is also defined by having “behaviors or mental acts that help prevent or reduce anxiety or distress, or preventing a dreaded event or situation” (Nolen-Hoeksema & Marroquin, 2017,…
Prevalence Tourette syndrome does not affect just one ethnic group. The disorder affects males about three to four times more often than females. About 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS. Although TS can be a lifelong condition, most people with the condition experience their worst tic symptoms early in life, with improvement in late adolescence and continuing into adulthood (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2012).…
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study Jessica Freeman Eastern Maine Community College Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study Karen is a married thirty year-old woman with four children. Even though she has been having issues with anxiety for years and depression for three months, Karen is living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), those with OCD show symptoms of arduous “…obsessions, compulsions, or both…” that cannot be explained through other physiological or mental disorders (p. 237). This is a two part disorder because obsessions are intrusive, recurrent “…thoughts, urges, or images…” that cause anxiety which, in return, needs to be compulsively neutralized through…
Disease trivialization has three main components: oversimplification of symptoms, skepticism of the severity, and levity (Pavelko, 2015). The first facet of disease trivialization, the oversimplification of symptoms, is easily applicable to OCD. For example, few people outside of the medical community are aware that OCD has many sub-types. However, due to media coverage focusing heavily on compulsive OCD over purely obsessive OCD many people only associate the disorder with organizing or hand-washing (Allen, 2013). Unfortunately, this disparity in knowledge excludes many of the subtypes in OCD and in turn excludes many of the symptoms that are specific to these subtypes.…
Constantly cleaning everything in sight, and scrubbing your body clean till you start to bleed is a sign of a physiological disorder that can and should be diagnosed before it’s too late. People handle messes and disorganization in different ways, some could care less, and on the other hand, some get completely disoriented and have to clean everything in sight. Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is more than just cleaning; it has to do with your brain constantly performing acts unintentionally (Rathus, 2010). Obsessive-compulsive disorder can affect people’s attitudes in negative ways, like in the 1981 film Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, which accurately portrays how OCD can ruin a family and career. Mommie Dearest for the majority…
Says one patient, “Some people don’t understand that OCD is something that completely takes over your life” (Ulsh, 2007). It can be completely debilitating, and yet the response one person got when she admitted to having it was from someone who asked her if she washed her hands constantly (Ulsh, 2007). Clearly, the reaction of the non-sufferer seems to veer from finding it funny to not understanding the condition at…
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most popular types of therapy when treating disorders such as anxiety, panic disorders, and most commonly, obsessive compulsive disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy is defined as changing the disturbing thoughts of a person by identifying their feelings, beliefs, and behaviors in order to eventually change the behavior of the person (Courtois, 2009). Cognitive therapy treats many disorders. However, the most common disorder is obsessive compulsive disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is defined as having intrusive thoughts or obsessions which increases anxiety.…
It is rare to see a case beginning after the age of thirty five. In adults with OCD, men and women are both equally affected.…
In order to be diagnosed with OCD, these obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming; for example, a compulsion can last up to one hour a day, or cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social,…
For diagnosis, the condition must be time consuming, and it must not be attributed to other physiological or medical effects. According to Solomen and Grant in, “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” “compulsions are meant to neutralize or reduce the person’s discomfort or to prevent a dreaded event,” which may be why they occur repetitively (2014, pg. 646). Bokor and Anderson state in their article, “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” that “preoccupation with…
Cognitive behavior therapy is often used to treat OCD. Anti-anxiety medication is also commonly used (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). In the movie As Good as It Gets, Melvin Udall has OCD. Tara Sullivan from the book Kissing Doorknobs also has this condition, the two are similar in some ways and different in some ways. Obsessive compulsive disorder can look different from one person to the next.…
OCD is a physiological disorder that is closely related to psychology and will be discussed using the psychodynamic perspective, methods, positive…