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Obssesive-compulsive Disorder

The DSM-IV diagnosis requires that this involuntary behavior cause a person extreme distress, consume excessive time (over an hour a day), or interfere with functioning. In addition, the person must recognize that the obsession is a product of his or her own mind. It is now recognized that obsessive-compulsives realize how senseless their obsessions or compulsions are but they do not seem to be able to control them.
             Obsessive-compulsive disorder usually contains both obsessions and compulsions but it is possible to experience only one or the other. Roughly two percent of the people in the United States have obsessive-compulsive disorder in any given year. OCD usually starts around adolescence and early childhood. It affects men and women equally. Recent research points to a neurological basis for obsessive- compulsive disorder. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder have different patterns of brain activity than people with either other mental illnesses or no illness at all. When a parent has obsessive-compulsive disorder, chances are slightly greater that his or her offspring will have the illness. OCD can sometimes be accompanied by eating disorders, substance abuse, ADHD, depression, and certain other anxiety disorders. There is no known single cause for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Researchers agree that there is some sort of communication problem between the orbital cortex (the front part of the brain), and the basal ganglia (the deeper structures). Serotonin is the chemical messenger here. There are problems that are commonly confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The first and most common conditions are the tic disorders such as Tourette's disorder and other motor and vocal tic disorders. These include facial grimacing, snorting, and touching or tapping. These are tics that closely resemble compulsions. Depression and stress are two more instances that are commonly confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder.


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