man vs ocd

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts. To get rid of the thoughts, a person does the same tasks over and over. For example, you may fear that everything you touch has germs on it. So to ease that fear, you wash your hands over and over again. OCD is a chronic, or long-term, illness that can take over your life, hurt your relationships, and limit your ability to work or go to school. Everyone feels anxiety, fear, uncertainty, or worry at some time. These normal emotions and reactions help people protect themselves, stay safe, and solve problems. Usually these feelings don't last long and don't come too often. But for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, these feelings are taken to extremes. It's as if the brain's filter for sorting out what's dangerous from what's not dangerous isn't working properly. Instead of keeping normal worry in perspective, there is a constant stream of uncertainty, doubt, or fear in the person's mind. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder. People with OCD become preoccupied with whether something could be harmful, dangerous, wrong, or dirty - or with thoughts about bad stuff that might happen. With OCD, upsetting or scary thoughts or images, called obsessions, pop into a person's mind and are hard to shake. People with OCD feel strong urges to do certain things repeatedly — called rituals or compulsions — in order to banish the scary thoughts, or to try to ward off the bad thing they dread, or to make extra sure that things are safe or clean or right. By doing a ritual, someone with OCD is trying to feel absolutely certain that something bad won't happen. Sometimes the obsessions and compulsions seem to be related to each other. For example, if a person with OCD has obsessions (worry thoughts) about germs and about getting sick, these might be accompanied by compulsions (urges and behaviors) to wash a lot, clean things, or try not to touch things that might be germy. But sometimes the compulsions don't seem to have anything to do with the fear a person is trying to banish. Someone with OCD might get the idea that if things aren't arranged just so on a desk, someone they love could get sick or die. Many times, the rituals seem odd even to the person with OCD. For this reason, many people with OCD try to hide their symptoms from others. Although people with OCD feel a brief sense of relief when they do a compulsion, the compulsions actually strengthen the OCD thoughts, encouraging them to return. The more someone does the compulsions, the stronger the illness becomes. When OCD is severe, the fear obsessions can be extremely distressing and rituals can take up hours of a person's day. But for someone with OCD, resisting the urge to do compulsions can be very difficult. What causes ocd? Doctors and scientists don't know exactly what causes OCD, although recent research has brought better understanding about OCD and what causes it. Before that, OCD was thought to be difficult to treat, but now it's a lot easier. Experts believe OCD is related to levels of a normal chemical in the brain called serotonin (pronounced: sir-uh-toe-nin). When the proper flow of serotonin is blocked, the brain's "alarm system" overreacts and misinterprets information. Danger messages are mistakenly triggered like "false alarms." Instead of the brain filtering out these unnecessary thoughts, the mind dwells on them — and the person experiences unrealistic fear and doubt. Evidence is strong that OCD tends to run in families. Many people with OCD have one or more family members who also have it or other anxiety disorders influenced by the brain's serotonin levels. Because of this, scientists have come to believe that the tendency (or predisposition) for someone to develop the serotonin imbalance that causes OCD can be inherited through a person's genes. Having the genetic tendency for OCD doesn't mean people will develop OCD, but it means there is a stronger chance they might. An imbalance of serotonin levels can also result in other types of anxiety or depression. OCD affects people of all ages. It often begins during childhood. Some adults with OCD say their symptoms started when they were kids, but that their condition didn't get recognized or treated until they were grown. That could be because they didn't tell anyone about their symptoms, or because when they were younger, people were less aware of OCD and how to treat it. Doctors used to think OCD was rare and untreatable, but now much more is known. As many as 1 in 100 children have OCD. Although there is no cure yet, with proper treatment most people can live free of its symptoms.

Symptoms of OCD may includes:

Obsessions -- These are unwanted thoughts, ideas, and impulses that you have again and again. They won't go away. They get in the way of your normal thoughts and cause anxiety or fear. The thoughts may be sexual or violent, or they may make you worry about illness or infection. Examples include: A fear of harm to yourself or a loved one. A driving need to do things perfectly or correctly. A fear of getting dirty or infected.

Compulsions -- These are behaviors that you repeat to try to control the obsessions. Some people have behaviors that are rigid and structured, while others have very complex behaviors that change. Examples include: Washing or checking that something has been done. Counting, often while doing another compulsive action, such as hand-washing. Repeating things or always moving items to keep them in perfect order. Hoarding. Praying. The obsessions or compulsions usually take up a lot of time—more than 1 hour a day. They greatly interfere with your normal routine at work or school, and they affect social activities and relationships. Sometimes people may understand that their obsessions and compulsions are not real. But at other times they may not be sure, or they may believe strongly in their fears.