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OCD Facts and Discoveries

If you are unfamiliar with OCD and the effect it can have on one's life, I will share some facts that you may find amazing. OCD is a disorder which causes a person to have intrusive or insistent thoughts and behaviors of such a nature as to have a significantly disruptive effect on their life. These thoughts can manifest in mild to moderate behavioral disturbances or they can cause a person to do things repeatedly such as rituals guarding against danger, extreme cleansing, re-checking locks and such. For example, feeling the need to do things a certain number of times such as going to your car and then back to your house door 3 times to make sure it is "really" locked. However, probably the most commonly known characteristic of OCD is an excessive fear of contamination. This comes in many forms such as an extreme fear of touching something that may have been "contaminated" by saliva or blood.

Mind counting is another symptom of OCD. If you find yourself subject to words or phrases repeating themselves in your head, for no apparent reason, this may be a sign of OCD. Although the symptoms and behaviors associated with OCD are wide and varied the primary thing they have in common is they are generally unwanted behaviors and/or thoughts that occur with above normal frequency and are not easily stopped. Most people with OCD also have difficulty with daily activities. These difficulties can manifest as tardiness, perfectionism, procrastination, indecision, discouragement and family difficulties.

Another sign of OCD that often gets overlooked is the hoarding of truly useless objects. This hoarding occurs because many sufferers imagine the guilt they would feel if they threw something away only to need it someday.

Interesting Facts about OCD

* Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a condition that afflicts somewhere around 1 in every 50 people in the United States.

* In general, the average person with OCD will develop this condition before the age of 25, but was probably dealing with it as a child and went undiagnosed.

* In about 15% of all cases, someone over 35 suddenly develops symptoms of OCD.

* OCD is quite possibly more prevalent than diabetes and, and what is disturbing is that just like diabetes, a large number of cases are left undiagnosed and untreated for years.

* For those who do receive treatment, they have typically suffered with the OCD for 7-12 years before getting help.

A person's obsessions and compulsions will persist throughout their life. However, these obsessions and compulsions can be milder if dealt with. It is estimated that around 60 to 80 percent of people with OCD can expect significant improvement with a combination of medical and behavioral treatments. These conventional treatments have so far yielded a significant improvement response within 4 to 6 weeks. In most cases, patients have needed follow-up monitoring and treatment to sustain their improvements. The most common treatments of OCD include the use of SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft.