OCD

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What is it?

Some people have thoughts or ideas that keep coming into their minds even when they do not want them to. These thoughts often feel silly or unpleasant and are called obsessions. Compulsions are things that people feel they have to do, even when they do not want to. If the compulsions upset the person, take up more than an hour of time a day and interfere with the person’s everyday life then they may well have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

How common is it?

On average OCD affects 1% of young people, and between 2 and 3 % of all people.

What age range does it affect?

Any age from about four or five years old – often adults diagnosed with OCD are found to have had it untreated since childhood.

Other information

The term 'obsessed' is very much part of everyday language, but the distinction between OCD and ordinary, everyday behaviour is a matter of degree. Rituals are part of normal life – bedtime songs and religious practices, for instance. Many of us indulge in small, everyday rituals without thinking (throwing salt over our left shoulder, or avoiding the path of a black cat). We may engage in compulsive behaviour, such as straightening objects, or cleaning more than is strictly necessary. As many as four-fifths of the population may experience such minor obsessions or compulsions from time to time. Obsessive compulsive disorder is an extreme form of this behaviour.

Symptoms

Ritualistic obsessions that take up a lot of time
Ordinary worries increase (such as fear of germs)
Having to perform tasks repetitively, constantly doubting they were done right the last time

Regular Causes

Anxiety or stress
Serious illness in the family
Continuous fear
Regular feelings of being unsafe in childhood
Sexual abuse

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