Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

WHAT IS OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a recognised mental condition where a person becomes anxious about every day occurrences or thoughts. Examples may include behaviour such as repeated checking or washing.

OCD often involves repeatedly doing something even though the person with OCD realises that it is not strictly necessary. The person with OCD gets into rituals which help reduce their short term anxiety. In the long term a person with OCD becomes reliant on these rituals and their anxiety can actually sometimes increase.

TYPICAL PATTERNS OF OCD BEHAVIOUR

Typical patterns of OCD behaviour can include:

• Repeatedly checking that doors and windows are locked;
• An anxiety about germs and infections which results in repeated washing;
• Over concern about orderliness such as making sure that all books on a shelf are the same size.

This is by no means an exhaustive list.

A person with OCD may also have obsessive thoughts of which they themselves disapprove. For example they may have thoughts of harming themselves or someone close to them. They will often mull over these thoughts repeatedly and try to dismiss them from their mind. Thoughts can sometimes revolve around risks associated with every day life such as car accidents. The person with OCD can also have an unusually high degree of perfectionism.

Children typically develop some symptoms of OCD during ‘normal’ stages of their development. For example, not treading on the cracks in pavements. Such traits are reasonably ordinary and should not cause excessive concern unless they are long term and causing the child unacceptable levels of anxiety.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF OCD?

Causes of OCD may be:

• Genetic;
• Stress;
• Life changing events;
• Changes in the brain (e.g. there may be an imbalance of serotonin in the brain);
• Personality (e.g. people with ‘perfectionist’ streaks are more likely to suffer);
• Thinking mode – (e.g. a person may get into a pattern of thinking of worst case scenarios).

IS IT POSSIBLE TO TREAT OCD?

Treatments for OCD tend to be cognitive (i.e. treating the way the person with OCD thinks) although they can also involve the use of medication.

Cognitive Treatments

Cognitive treatments revolve around getting the person with OCD to face up to their problems and/or changing the way that they think. This treatment is often carried out by a counsellor.

A person with OCD will be encouraged to confront their anxieties. For example, if they excessively check things before leaving the house they will be encouraged to stop checking the thing that worries them least first of all. Having succeeded with this they are then encouraged not to check items which cause them increasing amounts of anxiety.

A person with OCD may also be encouraged not to try to dismiss unpleasant thoughts. Rather, they are encouraged to see these thoughts as the natural sort of thought that occurs to everybody. Allowing the mind to accept a thought and relax with it causes less anxiety than trying to dismiss it in the first place.

A person with OCD can be helped to think logically about their anxieties. For example, by asking them “What is the worst that can happen if situation ‘x’ arises?” They can be informed that although it is reasonably common for people with OCD to have negative thoughts, what they fear virtually never happens.

Medical Treatments

There are also some medical treatments for people with OCD. They may be prescribed antidepressants which can help restore a more normal balance of serotonin. However, medical treatments should be secondary to cognitive treatments.

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Although the information we have provided here is meant to be helpful to you, Douglas Silas Solicitors cannot be held responsible for any damage or loss caused by any inaccuracy or reliance placed upon it. If you have any concerns about your child, you should seek professional educational or healthcare advice as soon as possible.