Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors
Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors
"Compulsive" and "obsessive" have become everyday words. "I'm compulsive" is how some people describe their need for neatness, punctuality, and shoes lined up in the closets. "He's so compulsive is shorthand for calling someone uptight, controlling, and not much fun. "She's obsessed with him" is a way of saying your friend is hopelessly lovesick. That is not how these words are used to describe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD, a strange and fascinating sickness of ritual and doubts run wild. OCD can begin suddenly and is usually seen as a problem as soon as it starts. Compulsives (a term for patients who mostly ritualize) and obsessives
(those who think of something over and over again) rarely have rituals or thoughts about nuetral questions or behaviors. What are their rituals about?
There are several possible ways to list symptoms of OCD. All sources agree that the most common preoccupations are dirt (washing, germs, touching), checking for safety or closed spaces (closets, doors, drawers, appliances, light switches), and thoughts, often thoughts about unacceptable violent, sexual, or crude behavior. When the thoughts and rituals of OCD are intense, the victim's work and home life disintigrate. Obsessions are persistent
, senseless, worrisome, and often times, embarrassing, or frightening thoughts that repeat over and over in the mind in an endless loop. The automatic nature of these recurant thoughts makes them difficult for the person to ignore or restrain successfully. The essence of a Compulsive Personality Disorder is normally found in a restricted person, who is a perfectionist to a degree that demands that others to submit to hisher way of doing things. A compulsive personality is also often indecisive and excessively devoted to work to the exclusion of pleasure. When pleasure is considered, it is something to be planned and worked for.
Pleasurable activities are usually postponed and sometimes never even
"Compulsive" and "obsessive" have become everyday words. "I'm compulsive" is how some people describe their need for neatness, punctuality, and shoes lined up in the closets. "He's so compulsive is shorthand for calling someone uptight, controlling, and not much fun. "She's obsessed with him" is a way of saying your friend is hopelessly lovesick. That is not how these words are used to describe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD, a strange and fascinating sickness of ritual and doubts run wild. OCD can begin suddenly and is usually seen as a problem as soon as it starts. Compulsives (a term for patients who mostly ritualize) and obsessives
(those who think of something over and over again) rarely have rituals or thoughts about nuetral questions or behaviors. What are their rituals about?
There are several possible ways to list symptoms of OCD. All sources agree that the most common preoccupations are dirt (washing, germs, touching), checking for safety or closed spaces (closets, doors, drawers, appliances, light switches), and thoughts, often thoughts about unacceptable violent, sexual, or crude behavior. When the thoughts and rituals of OCD are intense, the victim's work and home life disintigrate. Obsessions are persistent
, senseless, worrisome, and often times, embarrassing, or frightening thoughts that repeat over and over in the mind in an endless loop. The automatic nature of these recurant thoughts makes them difficult for the person to ignore or restrain successfully. The essence of a Compulsive Personality Disorder is normally found in a restricted person, who is a perfectionist to a degree that demands that others to submit to hisher way of doing things. A compulsive personality is also often indecisive and excessively devoted to work to the exclusion of pleasure. When pleasure is considered, it is something to be planned and worked for.
Pleasurable activities are usually postponed and sometimes never even