OCD Project
ISP
4/7/2011 9:10:59 AM
Have you ever thought you were obsessed about something? Have you ever seen someone else obsessed about something? You most likely have, because 2.8% of all Americans have obsessive-compulsion disorder (OCD). You’ve probably heard of this disorder before but only have an extreme point of view for it as people hoarding animals, trash, and useless items. Not everyone who has OCD goes to extremes; many like me just have an algorithm on how to do things a certain way so it makes other things work faster and run smoother.
What is OCD even? Obsessive-compulsion disorder is a form of an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is a psychological and physiological involving people’s minds, behavior, and the function of living systems as far as distinguishing the chemical breakdown of the mind or other living organisms. An anxiety disorder is used by doctors to cover up many different problems. If a doctor tried to write a list of everything wrong with a person, the paper could be four miles long. There are countless anxiety disorders out there like panic, OCD, post-traumatic stress(PTSD), social anxiety; phobias that can be listed a separate problem for each phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. That is just a couple. Symptoms of anxiety can be panic, fear, uneasiness, obsessive thoughts, nightmares, ritualistic behaviors, problems sleeping, and muscle tension.
In history, there was no thing as anxiety or OCD. There was only a very general view of mental illness. These mental disorders could be a crazy man or just someone who was born deformed or mentally handicap. In ancient Greece and Rome, mental illness was thought of being caused by spirits or demons. Early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations viewed mental illness as possessions and used exorcisms. Sometimes its involved beatings, restraint, and starvation to try and drive the spirits, soles, or demons out from their victim. One ancient scholar did not agree with the theory of mental illness. Hippocrates believed in natural origins. That the mental illness was a natural cause from the body. He also did not try to drive demons out of a body. He tried to rehabilitate a person through rest, bathing, exercise, and dieting. Another ancient scholar named Plato saw mental illness as experiences that shaped an adult’s behaviors. Up to about 1910, habits that reflected OCD were still seen as possessed from the devil. Then a man named Sigmund Freud attributed the habits as Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior. Then behavior was changed to disorder, this is how OCD came along. He saw these habits as “unconscious conflicts that manifest as symptoms”. Now in modern time, people know everything they did in the past was uncalled for because we learned about it more.
The world has also learned about the brain activity of OCD patients. They have not fully found that cause but they have found hints and clues. Studies of people with OCD show that with brain scans, their brain activity is different than other people. They have different circuitry within certain parts of the brain like the striatum. People diagnosed with OCD also have an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin chemicals in many regions of the brain. Dopamine’s chemical formula is C6H3(OH)2-CH2-CH2-NH2. It has many functions in the brain such as behavior, cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment, and reward. Serotonin’s chemical formula is C10H12N2O. It is actually not a hormone. It is said to be linked with feeling of happiness or well being. It is stored mostly in the gut where it regulates intestinal movements, the rest of it if found in the CNS in the body.
There are many very famous and historic figures in the United States that had OCD. There are a few like Albert Einstein. He suffered from dyslexia. He also had very bad memory; he would forget the months in a year but would solve the hardest mathematical problem in no time. Charles Darwin also had OCD. His symptoms are still unknown but he is said to have symptoms showing by the age of sixteen and became incapacitating around the age of twenty-eight. Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson who was a confederate general during the Civil War also had OCD. His symptoms are also not listed but it is know he had it.
There are categories for some OCD habits. The category of “Obsessed” is used when someone is fixated on an object or subject. That is all they think about. This could also be a general label for all OCD patients as well. Another group of OCD behavior is called “Washers”. This is for the large kind of people who keep extreme cleanliness. They wash, scrub, and disinfect everything. They do this in fear of their children getting sick, the house getting too messy, and for other reasons as of what other people will think of them if they see a dirty house or a piece of dirt on their hand. “Checkers” is a community of people who double, triple, and quadruple check thins as doors, locks, where their children are, and if someone is ok. They check to make sure appliances are off, the house alarm is on, and if they turned off their car lights. “Doubters/Sinners” are similar to “Checkers” but not fully. “Doubters/Sinners” do check things over and over again but then think that something bad will happen or they will get in trouble if they do not. They think the worst of thinks in all situations. Now “Counters/Arrangers” are the kind that need everything put symmetrically. Everything is lined up perfect on the shelf, the chalk on the board is all the same length, and nothing is out of order. This also goes with the principle of “Perfectisum”. Hoarders are the most popular classification of OCD habits. It’s so famous because it is so extreme and the show “Hoarders” on “A&E television” show the inside struggles from it. Hoarders are collectors of anything. Some collect specific things such as animals, trash, dolls, or just things in general like junkmen. In intense cases, their houses become cluttered with all the items. Cluttered enough that you cannot go through the house without leading and avoiding objects without knocking them down.
You can even organize the symptoms of OCD even more by categorizing them into “Obsessed” and “Compulsions”. Obsessions are things like the fear of dirt, disgust with bodily waste/fluids, and concern with order, symmetry and exactness; other words (Perfectisum). Compulsions are things like cleaning, checking things, repeating actions, and asking for permission and approval.
There is so much to do with just the mental illness of OCD. It branches off in so many directions it’s hard to keep up. You can always learn more. Before you know it, you might want to be a psychologist.
References:
Arch Gen Psychiatry/Vol. “Mapping Structural Brain Alterations in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Archpsych. July 2004. April 7, 2011. < http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/61/7/720.pdf>
Amal Chakraburtty, MD. “Anxiety & Panic Disorders Guide.” Webmd. February 09, 2009. April 7, 2011. < http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders?page=3>
Bartz JA, Hollander E. “Is Obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorder?” PubMed. May, 2006. April 7, 2011. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16455175>
Benedict Carey. “Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You're Just a Perfectionist.” Nytimes. December 4, 2007. April 7, 2011. < http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/health/04mind.html>
The OC & Spectrum Disorders Assn., Susan F., The OC Foundation, The Nat'l Institute of Mental Health, Solvay Pharmaceutical's Community Eduction Publications, Chris Vertullo's OCD-L mailing list, and the Prodigy medical support board. Expert Consultants: S Saxena, MD and K Maidment, PhD. “Most Frequently Asked Questions About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).” BrainPhysics. April 7, 2011. < http://www.brainphysics.com/ocdfaq.php>
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