OCD (Obsessive - compulsive disorder) ?

Question

Whenever i lock the door, i need to check it few times to see if its locked (i try to open it and then i pull them, so i can hear the "click"). Whenever i turn the valve (watter walve), i need to turn it on and off few times to make sure that watter wont come out. The things i do sound silly, and i am aware of that. But if i dont do those "rituals", i will feel very nervous and anxious.

Also, whenever i do something, i want it to be symetric...the same way it looks right , the same way it is left.

There is another "strange" thing i've been doing. I allways feel itch on my head top. I am 100% i dont have flake or any kind of parasites that would cause such thing. I sometimes feel need to pull my hair in order to make it go away. I think it has something to do with CNS.

I have never asked for help with these problems, all i want is an explination why is this hapening...just to satisfy my curiosity.

If you can please answer some of these questions.

Thank you for your time.

Well, im treating this obsessions on my own and its going pretty fine. As i said, i never saked a doctor for help, because i am good in understanding human mind and know how to manipulate it.

I wanted to hear your opinion about my possible OSD and i am thankfull to hear it.

The only remaining problem is the itch i feel at the top of my head. I have it for years, and it started without any particular reason. I have it since i was 10, and i am sure that i had no childhood traumas that could have caused it. Could someone tell me if there is a particular nerve center that is located at that region of brain/head ? Yes, when i was a kid i used to damage my skin there, now i can controll it, but i feel really strange. I simply feel a need to take something out from there...i dont know what.

Answer 1

It sounds that you might have a mild case of OCD. Check with a dermatoligist to see if you have an actual rash caused by the hair pulling. Tell your doctor about these habits and get in for an MRI.

Answer 2

I'm sorry that you have OCD. It's a bad thing, that happens to good people! I think you are overly concerned with the "I'd rather be safe than sorry" routine. I would tell a doctor about the problem and let him send you to a therapist
or a psychologist-not a psychiatrist. You are not crazy, just neurotic and the only thing a psychiatrist is good for, is taking your money and putting you on medication(s), which you may not need. Your own doctor may give you medication if it is needed! If you have never watched the series "MONK", you should watch it. It is on the USA channel, on cable tv. I think that you should spend some time reading books on the disorder. The more you know about it, the sooner you may recover. I'm sorry to say that these repetitive behaviors, will take a while to
go away. You may end one behavior and start another. It's not your fault! It's something in your brain chemistry. You can still lead a full life
and be an integral part of society. You can still
go to college and be a usefull person in the real world. I know someone who has this disorder and she has been a school teacher for over 30 years. Don't let this problem take over your life! Take it one day at a time. Only the ignorant will laugh at you, so you might not want
to share your problems with everyone else!
Each day look into the mirror and be proud of
who you are and what you have accomplished.
Each night, it would not hurt, to ask God, to help you in difficult times. I wish you love and the best of luck.

Answer 3

You definately have OCD. I've heard of it worse with other people, but you do have it to an extent. I used to have this thing where I HAD to put my right foot in front of any crack that was in the sidewalk while walking. What I did to get rid of it, is just repeatively doing it with the left foot, even though it felt so WRONG! After a while I wouldn't even think about it anymore, and the bothersome, anxious feeling disipated. Maybe try to do everything once, lock the doors only once, (it's okay to double check to make sure they're locked) or just turning the water off and LEAVE it off. If you get your brain to realize that nothing bad will come from it, maybe you won't want to do it any more.

Answer 4

Some of the things that you described seem in keeping with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Behavior). However, you realy should seek the assistance of a mental health professional to really examine your behavior more closely. Many people live full and productive lives regardless of what mental conditions they experience. However, the most important thing is to get it properly diagnosed and not left to the hands of an untrained person.

Answer 5

yes dear. you have OCD. the question now is are these rituals keeping you from enjoying your life? because thats the bottom line.

there are sites about OCD and they have tests to see. take them as is. if it comes out that you have tendencies or you are positive, and you dont want to be OC anymore, go see a doctor.

these things can be overcome. but i thnk that the fear is the main cause and thats why you have to do things repetitively just to assure and reassure yourself.

goodluck.

Answer 6

my neice has a friend with ocd and he is very compulsive and he is like that because of the way he was born or that"s what he says.

Answer 7

OCD Explained
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Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, specifically, an anxiety disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive drive to perform a particular task or set of tasks, compulsions commonly termed rituals.

Symptoms and prevalence

Modern research has revealed that OCD is much more common than previously thought. An estimated two to three percent of the population of the United States is thought to have OCD or display OCD-like symptoms. Because of the condition's personal nature, and the lingering stigma that surrounds it, there may be many unaccounted-for OCD sufferers, and the above percentages could be even higher.

The typical OCD sufferer performs tasks (or compulsions) to seek relief from obsessions. To others, these tasks may appear simple and unnecessary. But for the sufferer, such tasks can feel critically important, and must be performed in particular ways for fear of dire consequences and to stop the stress build up. Examples of these tasks: repeatedly checking that one's parked car has been locked before leaving it; turning lights on and off a set number of times before exiting a room; repeatedly washing hands at regular intervals throughout the day.

OCD rituals are often bound up with intricate detail — detail that may seem arbitrary to outsiders. Smokers with OCD, for instance, may argue with themselves that quitting cigarettes is possible only on the 13th or 27th of a month, and only when they are in possession of four cigarettes at noon.Obsessions are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. Common OCD obsessions include fears of acquiring disease, getting hurt, or causing harm to someone. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to by themselves. People with OCD who obsess over hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person.

Compulsions refer to actions that the person performs, usually repeatedly, in an attempt to make the obsession go away. For an OCD sufferer who obsesses about germs or contamination, for example, these compulsions often involve repeated cleansing or meticulous avoidance of trash and mess. Most of the time the actions become so regular that it is not a noticeable problem. Common compulsions include excessive washing and cleaning; checking; hoarding; repetitive actions such as touching, counting, arranging and ordering; and other ritualistic behaviors that the person feels will lessen the chances of provoking an obsession. Compulsions can be observable — washing, for instance — but they can also be mental rituals such as repeating words or phrases, or counting.

Most OCD sufferers are aware that such thoughts and behavior are not rational, but feel bound to comply with them to fend off fears of panic or dread. Because sufferers are consciously aware of this irrationality but feel helpless to push it away, OCD is often regarded as one of the most vexing and frustrating of the major anxiety disorders.

People who suffer from the separate and unrelated condition obsessive compulsive personality disorder are not aware of anything abnormal with them; they will readily explain why their actions are rational, and it is usually impossible to convince them otherwise. People who suffer with OCPD tend to derive pleasure from their obsessions or compulsions. Those with OCD do not derive pleasure but are ridden with anxiety. This is a significant difference between these disorders.

Equally frequently, these rationalisations do not apply to the overall behavior, but to each instance individually,: for example, a person compulsively checking their front door may argue that the time taken and stress caused by one more check of the front door is considerably less than the time and stress associated with being burgled, and thus the check is the better option. In practice, after that check, the individual is still not sure, and it is still better in terms of time and stress to do one more check, and this reasoning can continue as long as necessary.

Not all OCD sufferers engage in compulsive behavior. Recent years have seen increased diagnoses of Pure Obsessional OCD, or "Pure O." This form of OCD is manifested entirely within the mind, and involves obsessive ruminations triggered by certain thoughts. These mental "snags" can be debilitating, often tying up a sufferer for hours at a time. At this writing (2004), headway continues to be made by specialists. It is believed by many that pure-o OCD is in fact more prevalent than other types of OCD, although it is likely the most underreported as it is not visibly apparent, and sufferers tend to suffer in silence.

In pure-o, the sufferer tries to "disprove" the anxious thoughts through logic and reasoning, yet in doing so becomes further entrapped by the obsessions. Pure-o OCD is thought to be the most difficult form of OCD to treat. OCD is different from behaviors such as gambling addiction and overeating. People with these disorders typically experience at least some pleasure from their activity; OCD sufferers do not actively want to perform their compulsive tasks, and experience no tangible pleasure in doing so.

OCD is placed in the anxiety class of mental illness, but like many chronic stress disorders it can lead to depression over time. The constant stress of the condition can cause sufferers to develop a deadening of spirit, a numbing frustration, or sense of hopelessness. OCD's effects on day-to-day life — particularly its substantial consumption of time — can produce difficulties with work, finances and relationships.
However, some people still maintain successful careers and relationships as many do find they can hide or suppress their obsessive-compulsive behaviour due to feeling unnecessarily ashamed of this debilitating disorder.

Treatment

OCD can be treated with behavioral therapy (BT) or Cognitive therapy (CBT) and with a variety of medications. According to the Expert Consensus Guidelines for the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 1995, Vol. 54, supplement 4), the treatment of choice for most OCD is behavior therapy or cognitive behavior therapy.

Medications can help make the treatment go faster and easier, but most experts regard BT/CBT as clearly the best choice. Medications generally do not produce as much symptom control as BT/CBT, and symptoms invariably return if the medication is ever stopped.

The specific technique used in BT/CBT is called Exposure and Ritual Prevention (also known as Exposure and Response Prevention) or ERP; this involves gradually learning to tolerate the anxiety associated with not performing the ritual behavior. At first, for example, someone might touch something only very mildly "contaminated" (such as a tissue that has been touched by another tissue that has been touched by the end of a toothpick that has touched a book that came from a "contaminated" location, such as a school). That is the "exposure." The "ritual prevention" is not washing. Another example might be leaving the house and checking the lock only once (exposure) without going back and checking again (ritual prevention).

The person fairly quickly habituates to the (formerly) anxiety-producing situation and discovers that their anxiety level has dropped considerably; they can then progress to touching something more "contaminated" or not checking the lock at all — again, without performing the ritual behavior of washing or checking.

Pharmacologic treatments include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine (Paxil, Aropax), sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac), and fluvoxamine (Luvox) as well as the tricyclic antidepressants, in particular clomipramine (Anafranil). Other medications like gabapentin (Neurontin), lamotrigine (Lamictal), and the newer atypical antipsychotics olanzapine (Zyprexa) and risperidone (Risperdal) have also been found to be useful as adjuncts in the treatment of OCD. Symptoms tend to return, however, once the drugs are discontinued.

Recent research has found increasing evidence that opioids may significantly reduce OCD symptoms, though the addictive property of these drugs likely stands as an obstacle to their sanctioned approval for OCD treatment. Anecdotal reports suggest that some OCD sufferers have successfully self-medicated with opioids such as Ultram and Vicodin, though the off-label use of such painkillers is not encouraged, again because of their addictive qualities.