Is behaviour of the main protagonist Melvin played by Jack Nicholson in „As Good as It Gets” familiar to you? Do the rituals of Detective Monk from popular series resemble yours? When you leave home, do you always go back several times just to make sure you closed the door and at the same time you conduct a ritual of counting? Do you have problems falling asleep until your books on the table are arranged in proper order?
Probably you suffer from OCD (Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder). If you think that you are the only person who has this problem, then you should know that this problem afflicts 2,5% of population. If the disorder runs in the family, the risk of OCD reaches up to 9-10%.
OCD consists of two elements : obsessions, that is, obsessive thoughts which are perceived by a patient as embarrassing, illogical and unwanted. Despite the fact that patient finds obsessions absurd and unnecessary, he can’t restrain from having them. The attempt to do so increases the level of anxiety. The second element, namely, the reactions to obsessions, are called compulsions, that is, rituals that give relief to a patient. They consist in for example washing hands, obsessive checking, counting, praying, arranging things in a given order. OCD disables normal life to great extent.
Continue reading What is OCD?