Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is known as a serious mental illness in which an individual has repeated unwanted pattern of thoughts (obsessions) and/or intense need of repeating the behavior (compulsions) which may temporarily reduce anxiety. These obsessions and compulsions may seem to be normal and easy to control but it is quite the opposite, they interfere an individual with his daily functioning and leads to disturbance in his socio-economic functioning.

People try their best to stop these unwanted thoughts and behaviors but eventually end up with intense fear, anxiety and sometimes anger. In order to get relief from these extreme emotions they end up dwelling into the urges of repeating things. They feel that by repeating things they are helping themselves to ease out their anxiety, however, they are doing quite the opposite as the urge never stops and so the compulsions. 

The people are then trapped into the vicious cycle of obsessions and compulsions, which is why OCD is also known as a chronic and long-lasting disorder.

People suffering from OCD may have obsessions only or compulsions only or may have both.

Obsession Symptoms

• Fear of being contaminated or getting germs
• Constantly thinking about symmetry and/or alignments
• Unwanted aggressive, sexual or religious images
• Doubts in getting rid of unwanted things
• Constant worry about the safety of self or loved ones
• Fear of making mistakes

Compulsion Symptoms

• Repeatedly and excessively washing hands and/or cleaning the surroundings
• Checking locks of the door, gas stove, lights, fans etc.
• Arranging and rearranging things

• • Urge for constant seeking reassurance
  • Hoarding behavior
  • Repeated or ritualized counting

There can be multiple factors that may lead to the disorder; however, no exact reason has been found yet. Prevalence rates suggest that it is more common in women than men.

Risk factors may involve-

• If a person’s family has a history of OCD, then it increases the risk factor for the individual to develop OCD
• If a person experienced some traumatic events in his childhood then similar stressful events may become triggers and may lead to intrusive thoughts 
• An individual’s personality also plays an important role, which may include perfectionism, over analyzing situations, feelings of being responsible for almost everything etc.
• Brain Injury may also increase the risk of developing OCD

OCD is a long-term condition and is treated via medications and Psychotherapy. It is not yet fully curable however, with proper treatment it can be manageable and can help the individual in leading a healthy life

Medications

A Psychiatrist may prescribe with SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants. However, patience is required as these medications may not start giving positive effects right away, it may take a week or so in order to notice improvement

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy helps a client to come up with the distressful thoughts and actions and learn coping strategies to deal with them. There are varieties of therapies which help in treating OCD like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Relaxation techniques, Mindfulness skills etc. Researches have shown that certain psychotherapies act as effectively as medications for many people.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Rarely when medications and therapy both are not making enough changes then many doctors suggest to go for ECT and TMS treatment where electrical activity in a certain area of the brain is provided by these methods using magnetic fields to regulate OCD symptoms