The obsessive, compulsive cycle feeds on itself, creating an endless cycle of obsessions, fears and compulsive activities. It may be extremely draining, both physically and mentally and will take up hours of each day, severely interfering with work and personal relationships.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. The repetitive, distressing thoughts or images that become the obsessions for sufferers cause a tremendous amount of anxiety that can only be placated by the ritualistic compulsions that temporarily work to soothe the anxious mind and stop the obsessive thoughts.
However, the compulsions are only a temporary fix and need to be repeated every time the thoughts crop up. Moreover, some people become so obsessive about stopping or preventing the obsessive thoughts and images that they perform their rituals almost constantly to prevent the occurrence of the unwanted thoughts.
For the sufferers, the obsessive, compulsive cycle feeds on itself, creating an endless cycle of obsessions, fears and compulsive activities. It can be extremely draining, both physically and mentally and can take up hours of each day, severely interfering with work and personal relationships.
There are a number of biological and environmental factors that can contribute to or cause obsessive compulsive disorder.
There is a possible link between low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps the nerve cells in your body to communicate, and OCD. This is why prescription drugs that can deal with this imbalance are often at least partially helpful in resolving some of the effects of the disorder.
Low levels of serotonin may be a genetic trait passed on from parents to children so the tendency to develop OCD may be an inherited risk. There is also a link between the development of obsessive compulsive disorder in children and an untreated infection caused by streptococcus bacteria.
While biological factors can certainly play a role, environmental factors may cause the development of symptoms or pre-existing symptoms or tendencies to worsen.
OCD sufferers are compelled to perform rituals continuously to ease the anxious thoughts or obsessions that plague their minds. Washing their hands so many times that they become raw, cleaning household surfaces 5-6 hours a day, checking doors, windows, locks, and appliances non-stop, counting items obsessively, these are some of the compulsions that sufferers must contend with everyday.
While many compulsions are seemingly harmless on the surface, the compulsions are in response to obsessive and unwanted thoughts that need to be dealt with and the compulsions themselves can often be extremely detrimental to living a normal life.
Frustration and depression are the most common emotions associated with OCD after anxiousness and nervousness. That´s because the sufferers know their obsessions and compulsions are exaggerated, unwarranted and unnecessary but they can´t do anything about it. They are trapped in a cycle they know is unnecessary and can´t escape.
The drive to perform these ritualistic behaviors can become all encompassing and take over a sufferer´s life. Often the thoughts that invade your mind make no sense and are quite disturbing or scary. Obsessing about your own death or the death of a family member is upsetting.
You try to ignore these thoughts, you try to drive them away but they keep coming back. The obsessive compulsive disorder sufferers, like most anxiety sufferers, fear being labeled crazy or weird.
You are definitely not crazy and while you may be weird, it´s not because of your OCD. It is a more common problem than you may think; there are millions of people trying to cope with this problem right now. Chances are someone else you know is struggling with this problem as well.
OCD sufferers go to great lengths to hide their condition because they are embarrassed and worried about being humiliated in front of their family, friends and co-workers.
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