… ear compulsions. This would explain the common clich’e of a person washing their hands repeatedly until they feel cleansed. While a ‘normal’ person would know that while they wish to be clean, repeated washing is unnecessary, a person with OCD cannot distinguish the obsession from the compulsion, and as a result, ends up washing their hands over and over again.
Sufferers of OCD differ from “normal” people in that they cannot stop thinking about something, which is why they repeat certain actions. Non-OCD sufferers on the other hand are capable of seeing something, and being satisfied with it. They don’t feel the urge or compulsion to keep checking or worrying about anything. As mentioned earlier, behavior therapy is sometimes beneficial for OCD sufferers. It is usually an intensive program that lasts for at least a week, but usually longer. It requires OCD sufferers to face their fears and learn first hand that there is nothing to worry about.
This cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is most effective if the person receiving the treatment has an open mind. This therapy is extremely difficult for OCD sufferers, and it has a high drop out rate; sometimes as high as fifty percent. (Lippincott/Williams & Wilkins, 2003) Trichotillomania is a theme that is closely associated with . Simply put, it is when a person feels compelled to keep pulling out their hair. It is believed that OCD is thought to be the cause of about half of all cases.
A lot of OCD sufferers are hypochondriacs, which means that they fear that something is wrong with the way that they appear. This would explain their compulsion to alter their appearance by pulling out their hair. (Carter, 60) There was a study performed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse a few years ago. The patient, Michael, was a self proclaimed worrier. He constantly worried about whether or not he had turned off any and all electronic appliances in his house, as well as if he had locked the doors and windows. He felt that by not locking up or turning off appliances, bad things could happen to himself and his neighbors.
When he was 18 years old, he used to call his house and ask whoever was home if they could check to make sure that all of the appliances had been turned off. In order for Michael to be satisfied that the stove was off, he would have to keep his hand over each burner for 10 seconds to prove to himself that it was cool to the touch. When Michael lost his job, he became depressed. His therapist put him on an experimental drug called. The was both for his obsessive behaviors as well as his depression. Due to negative side effects, Michael was forced to discontinue the.
He did however keep seeing his psychiatrist for approximately six months. He stopped the sessions because while his mood had improved, his obsessive behaviors had not. (World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, 1995, 1997, 1999) Another case study involved a patient named Stephanie. Stephanie was a housewife and a new mother. She was afraid that her newborn son would be kidnapped, and therefore rarely took him out of the house. When she did take him out of the house in her car, she nervously watched him at every stop sign and traffic light to ensure that no one would attempt to snatch him while her car was stopped.
In her house, she would lean objects up against doors with hopes that she would hear them if an intruder tried to enter. Since the birth of her child, Stephanie had become extremely conscious of germs. As a result, she kept her house extremely clean at all times to avoid contaminating her son. She was also a compulsive hand washer.
Stephanie is rare in that she is aware that her actions are obsessive. It is because of this that she sought the help of a psychiatrist. Her psychiatrist calls Stephanie “OCD galore”, because she exhibits so many different symptoms. Her psychiatrist is helping Stephanie to overcome her compulsive actions by confronting them. Part of her therapy requires her son to touch the dirty wheels of his stroller with his clean hands.
Between the therapy and her extremely supportive husband, Stephanie is able to lead a relatively normal life. (BBCi Science and Nature: Human Body) When one person in a family has OCD, the entire family suffers tremendously. To combat this, the Journal of Academic Child Adolescence Psychiatry published a study dealing with cognitive-behavioral family-based therapy, or (CBFT) for short. To briefly summarize, CBFT can be just as effective as individual treatment, and as the study shows, the were positive throughout the entire study. The study itself lasted for six whole months and studied seventy-seven children.
This can be the little bit of optimism that families of OCD sufferers need. It shows the individual how to overcome their OCD, and it shows the family how to help that person overcome their OCD. (Barrett, Healy-Farrell, March, 46) While OCD is somewhat uncommon, there are quite a few celebrities who suffer from it. For example, radio disc jockey Howard Stern says that his OCD was once so severe, that before each radio show that he broadcast ed, he would bang his head on the studio wall a certain amount of times. (Summers, 27) Other famous celebrities suffering from the disorder include Kathie Lee Gifford, Donald Trump, Cameron Diaz and Howie Mandel. Cameron Diaz told Time Magazine that she opens up door handles with her elbows in order to avoid germ infested knobs.
Actor, talk show host, comedian, and frequent guest of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Howie Mandel suffers from severe OCD. His fear of germs is so severe that he built a full sized house directly behind his existing house, and fully furnished it. Whenever someone in his house is sick, he goes to live there until they ” re better. This way there aren’t any ‘sick germs’ in his presence. Hitting more close to home, my girlfriend’s mother has severe OCD. This is why I’m writing this paper on OCD; I wanted to become more knowledgeable about the disease.
Her mother had set up ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ parameters in their old house. When a person entered the house, they entered the ‘dirty area’. In order to cross over to the ‘clean’ area, they had to take a shower. And even showering had a certain procedure. They had to enter the tub on one end, and exit on the other, using utensils to turn the faucets on and off. If something was left on the dirty side, the only way to get it would be to cross over, and be forced to shower again.
Her mother would buy food, but unless she washed it off, it wasn’t edible. Her mother was the only one who would be allowed to prepare food, do the laundry, and do the cleaning. It was really an unfortunate situation, and since they ” ve moved to a house which someone had lived in before, her condition has improved. Apparently, because they were the original owners of their previous house, her mother wanted to keep things as clean as possible, since that’s how things were when they had moved in.
She had gone to a therapist, but stopped. She also stopped taking her medication, and as a result, her condition is worsening. She cannot work, and rarely leaves the house. To conclude my paper, I’ll recap everything that I’ve discussed.
OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disease that causes people to have obsessive tendencies, and unless the disease is recognized and treated, it can be detrimental. It was discovered in the mid nineteen eighties that OCD is a treatable disease. Since that discovery, great advances in modern medicine have helped to create drugs to help a person to overcome their obsessive and compulsive tendencies. As some of the studies mentioned above have shown, medication can be an effective tool in combating obsessive and compulsive symptoms.
Another effective tool is the cognitive-behavioral family based programs. This program shows family members living with OCD sufferers how to stay sane as well as help the person in need. While there is no ‘miracle pill’ or ‘cure’ for OCD, medication is the closest one can come to being symptom free. Each person has different ways of expressing and dealing with their OCD. Some people are compulsive hand washers, others are afraid of leaving appliances on, and some people are so afraid of germs that they will leave a contaminated area until they feel it is clean.
While OCD is a crippling disease, it is treatable, and a person suffering from it can still lead a normal and healthy life. Bibliography / Works Cited: (1) Garrett, Bob (2003). Brain and Behavior. California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning (2) Carter, Rita (2000).
Mapping the Mind. California: University of California Press (3) Summers, Marc and Hollander, Eric (2000). Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc.
(4) The OCD Foundation, retrieved April 4 th, 2004 from web (5) World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, retrieved April 5 th, 2004 from web view. asp? c = 4&fc = 007003003&did = 546 (6) BBC Interactive (BBCi) Science and Nature: Human Body and Mind, retrieved April 5 th, 2004 from web case 4. s html? disorder = 4&submit. x = 5&submit. y = 10 (7) N angle, Douglas W.
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