What causes obsessive compulsive disorder?

Question

Is it a brain chemistry thing, or is it behavioural?

Answer 1

Causes are difficult to nail down - especially over the net. They are very treatable and can be just about eliminated in some cases. A key is in identifying the excessive compulsive disorder itself. Usually it has four phases. Think of a clock face. At 12 o'clock, there is a trigger or some event or fear that starts you thinking about the compulsion. This continues, sometimes very rapidly to 3 o'clock where you delve into the obsessive part and start to bask in the idea and "worry it" like a dog worrying a bone. Plans and rituals start taking shape and you're almost acting like a drugged person. At some point, your compulsion yields to the irresistable, 6 o'clock and you are in a compulsive state and not really rational about it. It gives an odd pleasure and you don't want it to end. But it does. 9 o'clock. This is the famous guilt-purge stage. Very self condemning and guilt ridden often to tears. If it involves some thing, the thing is broken, destroyed and thrown away. Food people go through the vomit stage here. Often oathes are taken, swearing to God and spouses and others that you are so sorry and you will never do it again. That guilt is an impossible burden. It feeds on you and you condemn yourself so much that you start thinking about the stupid obsession and when thinking about it, you are at, 12 o'clock. And round two starts.

My opinion, and that's all it is. Some how you have to break the cycle. Remove any position and it fails. My experience has been and still is, the best thing to break the cycle is to remove the 9 o'clock guilt-purge. When it happens, it happens. When I get to the 9 o'clock position, I simply give myself permission to do what I just did. (Unless it's destructive like stabbing or fires or something!) If I just washed my hands seven times, I invite myself to an eighth, "on the house." I'm a grown up. I can do what I darn well please. If I want to turn the stove off 32 times, so what? It is my stove and I can stand there all day and turn it off as much as I want. Nothing wrong with that. So I have been successful using that technique. In so doing, the obsession loses its power or magic. If I can do it all the time any time, it is no longer an obsession so I stop doing it compulsively.

Answer 2

neurosis is caused by inefficiency of psychic defensive mechanism
also O C D is a result of some unpleasant idea which is tried to get suppressed by neurosis
o c d is also neurosis
it is psychoanalytical thing

Answer 3

What occurs to me is.... if you stop believing the thoughts leading to OCD, it wouldn't happen anymore. It stopped OCD for me.