Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Essay, Research Paper

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Obsessive Compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that effects nearly 5

million Americans, and half a million children. Its a disease that fills the brain with

unwanted ideas, and worries. OCD is a diseases that effects the Cerebral frontal cortex.

Unfortunately there is no cure for OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder can start

developing as early as age five. In most cases OCD controls your life. Through out the

rest of this paper I hope to inform you on Obsessive compulsive Disorders.

OCD fills your mind with unwanted worries or images, that cannot be rejected.

Patients must seek the help of others. Urges must be satisfied at once, so they don’t grow

stronger. Then vicious cycles develop. They became full time problems. OCD affects four

main areas; emotion-the way we feel, behavioral-the way we respond, cognitive-the way

we think, perceptual-the way we perceive things.

Anxiety is a common symptom of OCD. If you feel restless, frightened or just

uncontrollable, then you could have OCD. Many OCD sufferers feel this way daily. They

also experience headache, dry-mouth, tremors, butterflies in the stomach, and other feeling

associated with being worried. Some compulsions that are caused by OCD are;

Depression, anxiety, aggression, deception, phobias, double checking, sleep disturbances,

washing excessively, appetite disorders, self mutilation, and other rituals.

The three main types of aggressive behavior caused by OCD are mental, verbal,

and physical problems. The mental problems include violent images in the mind of the \

person with OCD. Verbal problems are cursing, and yelling a lot. Finally physical

aggression is shown toward people or objects. Physical aggression is usually directed

toward a family member. About 65% of the people with OCD have one of these problems.

Some people with OCD have phobias. Unlike normal people with phobias who can simple

avoid what they fear, people with OCD must perform a ritual to get away from it. For

example; some one with a phobia of germs would just keep away from them, however an

OCD patient with a phobia of germs would have to wash there hands, and most everything

they come into contact with to feel safe.

People with OCD often suffer from speech, and sight problems. They talk to fast,

too slow, and sometimes they tend to change their voice in the middle of a conversation

from a high pitch to a low pitch. Some patients are very talkative, and others talk very

little. OCD patients sometimes see things. They have reported seeing transparent dots, or

falling objects in there peripheral vision, such as books falling from shelves, or objects

falling from there pockets. This causes them to double-check.

There are three making types of OCD. Its important to know which type your

working with in order to understand the patient. The three main types are;

Medically included OCD- This is a result of a drug interaction, and it will cause

damage to your cerebral frontal cortex.

Obsessional conditions-This is characteristic of a moody personality, and resolves

itself quickly.

Manic Depressive form-Some people who have OCD may have a manic-depressive

component As a result patients may feel the need for; no sleep, excessive physical

energy, very fast speech, and hesitation. This is very rare.

Finally it is important to learn about OCD, and other mental disorders so we can

better help people with these disease. They can be cured to a point by drugs, but it is

important to know as much as possible about these illnesses.

Bibliography

Nezirogua, Fugen,Ph.D. Over and Over Again. 1995. Lexington books. New York.

Schwartz, Jeffery m, M.D. Brain Lock. 1996. Regan books. New York.

The World book Encyclopedia. 1998.New York

Britannica. 1993. Chicago