OCD
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition that involves obsessions, compulsions, or both. People with OCD typically experience obsessions or repetitive, unwanted thoughts that prompt an extreme urge to repeat a specific behavior. They then act out that urge, or compulsion, to help relieve the obsessive thought. OCD is related to irregular development and impairment in some brain regions.
-cleaning and contamination example: persistent cleaning to avoid germs
-symmetry and ordering example: aligning items in a certain way
-forbidden, harmful, or taboo thoughts and impulses, for example, frequent intrusive thoughts
hoarding example: extreme fear of throwing away an essential item by accident.
To diagnose OCD, your symptoms should affect your daily function, consume at least an hour of your day, and significantly affect your day-to-day activities. Obsessions or compulsions may affect your ability to pay attention at school or complete tasks at work. They could even keep you from going to school, work, or anywhere else.
At EastGate Behavioral Health, we will help relieve the distress caused by intrusive obsessive thoughts and prevent persistent fears from becoming a reality with medication, psychotherapy, or both.
