Last update of article 02.02.2018
An obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness manifested by obsessive thoughts, doubts and accompanied by a constant rechecification of perfect actions.
An obsessive-compulsive disorder is not such a serious pathology as schizophrenia or depression, but this mental disorder is able to significantly violate the quality of human life, to help reduce self-esteem and even deterioration of the social position of the patient.
The obsessive-complisher disorder can develop due to the interaction of a number of factors. First of all, it is hereditary predisposition. A person inherited certain personal features, a model of behavior in psychotrambulating conditions can be transmitted.
The development of this mental disorder can have sudden mental injuries (a life-threatening situation, the death of a loved one, a natural disaster) or a long stay in stressful conditions, when a person's mental psyche "is depleted." Examples of such a situation - an uninteresting, hated work for a person, with which he cannot quit (lives in a small village, where other work cannot be found).
The first manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder appear in adolescent or early mature age. At this time, obsessions arise, which are regarded by patients as something absurd, illogical.
The main obsessions characteristic of the OCC are obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions.
And now let's stop in detail on each individual symptom.
Obsessive thoughts - Practice thoughts, images and attractions, which arise in addition to the will of a person, again and again come to his mind, and which he is trying to resist. Such thoughts "pianic" in the head do not give a man of peace, he would also be happy to switch to something else, but again and again obsessive thoughts arise in his mind.
We are all different, therefore, the obsessive thoughts for each of us their own. However, all obsessive thoughts can be divided into obsessive doubts, obsessive pollution fears or contamination and contrasting obsessions. So, let's talk about each of these groups separately.
The obsessive doubts arose probably from each of us. Did I do everything? Is the decision right to accept? Did I closed the door? Was the gas turned off? Did you write everything in response to the ticket during the commissioning of the entrance exam? Familiar thoughts, right?
Obsessive doubts may be related to the issues of life (whether the door is closed, whether gas is turned off), with official activity (the bank's employee will doubt whether he correctly pointed the bill for which the money transferred, the teacher was correctly appreciated by the apprentice). To make sure that everything is done, the person will again and again check the gas, light, water, the number of the current account. And even if everything carefully do, after some time, doubts may return again (and suddenly the crane was not closed until the end, and I did not see it; what if I still confused the numbers in the account number?)
If such thoughts sometimes arise - nothing terrible, it happens almost everyone. But if you have forced many times to check whether the gas is turned off, the light is still not sure that everything is disabled, in this case it is better to visit the psychiatrist. You may have an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Here, by the way, a small anecdote on this topic.
The emergence of various obsessions, especially obsessive doubts, is characteristic of such a personality disorder.
Contrast obsessions can also occur with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. These are bright ideas arising in the imagination of a person, unpleasant in meaning, blasphemous thoughts.
Contrast obsessions include absolutely ground fear to cause harm to themselves or others. It may also be desire to continue someone's replica ironic, an offensive statement. This group of obsessions can be classified as an obsessive presentation of sexual content - obsessivity by the type of forbidden representations of sexual acts with animals, representatives of their own sex.
The obsessive ideas of pollution are otherwise called mizophobia. They can manifest themselves to be blocked to ground, feces, urine, fear of penetration into the organism of microorganisms, harmful substances.
Sometimes the fear of pollution is not strong. At the same time, a person for many years only is too hard with his hands or several times a day without visible causes the floor. This kind of phobia does not significantly affect the quality of life of a person, and others are regarded only as an increased chiper.
Much worse if the obsessiveness of pollution ideas are complicated. At the same time, various actions appear, rituals aimed at preventing contamination. Such a person will avoid touching subjects that could be contaminated. On the street, he will be published only in special clothes, allegedly protecting against pollution. Hands will also wash in a certain sequence and in no case will it violate it (otherwise it will assume that the hands remained dirty). In the later stages of the disease, some people even refuse to go out to do not blocked there, do not pick up some infection.
Another manifestations of Mizophobia - the fear of becoming some disease. Most often, patients fear that the pathogenic microorganisms will fall into their body from outside with some unusual way (for example, due to contact with old things belonging to a sick person).
Compulsive actions - Stereotypically repeated, obsessive actions. In some cases, obsessive actions acquire the form of protective rituals: performing certain actions under certain conditions, a person tries to protect himself from something. It is like this compulsion that can most often meet with OCC.
Among obsessive actions, especially in children's and adolescence, ticks prevail. From ticks in organic diseases of the brain, they differ in that they are much more complex movements that have lost their initial meaning. For example, to obsessive actions, you can count your hand movements, as if casting back long hair (although a person has long been walking with a short haircut) or attempts to blink hard with eyes, as if Sorinka got into the eyes. The performance of these movements is accompanied by a painful sense of non-convulsion, a person understands the meaninglessness of these movements, but they still perform them.
Many of us have bad habits - someone bites the lips, someone turns the ring, someone else comes smoothes. However, these actions are not accompanied by a feeling of obsession.
If you are hard to monitor yourself, you can get rid of such habits. Or if someone from the side pays attention to that the man at that moment is serving his lips, then this person will stop doing this, and his mental state will not break.
If there are obsessive thoughts and actions that are becoming increasingly absurd, it is necessary to take into account that similar symptoms may be observed at. It is also characterized by the progression of emotional depletion, the loss of familiar interests.
Antidepressants (Anafranil, imipramine, amitriptyline, fluvoxamine) can be applied for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. With contrast obsessions, the best effect is the antidepressant sertalin (gold).
Tranquilizers (hydroxyzine, alprazolam, diazepams, clonazepams) may also be prescribed for the treatment of OCR.
With an obsessive fear of pollution accompanied by a complex system of protective rituals, neuroleptics (Sonapaks, Trucal, Reeazine) can be used.
In most cases, effective treatment of OCC is impossible without the use of psychotherapy. Her goal is to reduce the self-control of a person, to teach him to relax. One of the methods of psychotherapeutic treatment is a targeted and consistent contact of a person with the things he avoids. This is done so that the patient learned to consciously control its emotions in such situations.
Each person at least once in his life experienced "visiting" unpleasant thoughts, which scared him, bringing to a terrible state. Fortunately, for the most part, a person may not concentrate his attention to them and, with ease of dismissing, live on, rejoicing life. But, unfortunately, there are people who cannot do that. They cannot let go of an unpleasant thought, but begin to dig and look for the reason for the appearance of such thoughts and fears. Such people invent concrete actions for themselves, which can calm down for a while. This phenomenon got the name of the OCD.
And in today's article we will talk about such a personal disorder as an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
The obsessions are thoughts, images and even impulses that scare the patient and do not let him go. Compulsices are already concrete actions that make a person in order to eliminate these thoughts and calm down.
The patient has such a state can progress and in this case a person has to make more compulsions to calm down.
OCD itself can be chronic or episodic. It is more important that this state causes real inconvenience to a person, reflected on all the spheres of his life.
At the expense of this issue, many studies were conducted, which helped to identify what kind of obsessive thoughts most often found in humans.
Of course, in fact, obsessions are a lot of different people who suffer from this disorder are visited by a variety of thoughts and fears. But above we listed the most common to date.
The following symptoms are characteristic of this disease themselves:
Unfortunately, not knowing or not fully understanding the complexity of this disorder, others do not understand that a person has a real problem. Many people who do not know about the obsessive-compulsive disorder these symptoms can only cause laughter or misunderstanding. However, OCP is a serious personal disorder, which, amazing a person, affects all spheres of human life.
This disorder is the predominance of either a compulsion or obsession. However, there may be a clean OCC. In this case, a person understands that he has this disorder. It understands that there are obsessive thoughts that do not correspond to their values \u200b\u200band beliefs. But they are confident that they do not have compulsive manifestations, in other words, do not make any rituals for liberation from frightening thoughts.
In fact, this is not entirely so, because in this version of the OCC, a person may not knock on the tree, may not pull the handles and all that, but at the same time can for a long time, sometimes to convince himself for hours, which is not necessary to pay attention to These thoughts or fears.
Yes, and they themselves do certain actions. These actions may not be visible to others, but still even in this type of obsessive-compulsive disorder of a person gets rid of emotional voltage due to certain actions: it can be a quiet prayer, an account up to 10, shaking the head, repaid from one foot to another And so more likely.
All this can be unnoticed for others, and for the patients themselves too. However, whatever the form of the OCC, it still accompanies some compulsices: it does not matter, these actions are conscious or unconscious.
Like any other problem, illness or disorder. And the OKR has causes of manifestation. And to understand the full picture of the problems you need to start with the study of exactly the causes.
To date, the researchers of this problem concluded that a combination of three factors immediately leads to an obsessive-compulsive disorder: social, psychological and biological.
Thanks to the latest technologies, scientists can already study the anatomy and physiology of the human brain. And the studies of the cerebral of patients with OKR showed that there are some significant differences in the work of the brain from these people. Basically, there are differences in different departments, such as the front of the frontal share, the thalamus and the striped body of the front waist bark.
Studies also showed that patients have some abnormalities that are associated with nerve impulses between neurons synapses.
In addition, the mutation of genes was revealed, which are responsible for the transfer of serotonin and glutamate. All these anomalies lead to the fact that the person's processing of neurotransmitters occurs before he can transfer the impulse to the following neuron.
Most of the scientists, speaking about the causes of the OCR, insist on genetics. Since more than 90% of patients with this disorder there are sick relatives. Although it may be controversial, since in these cases a child, living with a mother, who has OCC, can simply take this disorder as something of course and apply in his life.
As reasons, a streptococcal infection of group A.
As for psychological reasons, the specialists of this sphere assure that people who are predisposed to the OCR, there is a feature in thinking:
This disorder is often found in those people who brought up in strict families, where parents controlled all the steps of the child, put overpriced planks and goals. And the child vainly wants to meet these requirements.
And in this case: that is, if a person has the features of thinking (indicated above) and the supercontrol of parents in childhood, the appearance of obsessive-compulsive disorder is only time. And only one, the slightest impetus, the stressful situation (divorce, the death of a loved one, moving, loss of work, etc.), fatigue, long-term stress or the use of large amounts of psychotropic substances may cause for the appearance of OCD.
This disorder is largely cycled, and the patient's actions themselves occur cycles. At the beginning, a person appears, frightening it. Then, with the rise of this thought, he appears shame, feelings of guilt, anxiety. After a person, not wanting this, more and more concentrates his attention on frightening his thoughts. And all this time he increases the tension, anxiety and a sense of fear.
Naturally, in such conditions, a person's psyche cannot stay long in helpless state and ultimately he finds how to calm down: making certain actions, rituals. After performing stereotypical actions, the person comes to relief for a while.
But this is just a while, as a person understands that something is wrong with him and these feelings are forced to return to strange and frightening thoughts and again. And then the whole cycle begins to repeat again.
Many people naively believe that these ritual actions of patients are harmless, but in fact the patient in time begins dependence on these actions. It resembles drugs, the more you try, the harder it is to refuse them. In fact, ritual actions increasingly rouded this disorder and lead to the person to avoid from certain situations that cause an obsession.
As a result, it turns out that a person avoids dangerous moments and begins to convince himself that he has no problems. And this leads to the fact that he does not take measures to treat that as a result further exacerbates the situation.
Meanwhile, the problem is aggravated, since from the side of the patient hears reproaches, he is taken for the crazy and begin to prohibit the usual and soothing patient rituals. In these cases, the patient cannot calm down and all this leads a person to different difficult situations.
Although, in some cases, it happens that relatives encourage these rituals, which ultimately leads to the fact that the patient begins to believe in their need.
Diagnose in humans of OCC is a difficult task for a specialist, since its symptoms are very similar to schizophrenia symptoms.
It is for this reason that in most cases a differential diagnosis is carried out for the diagnosis (especially in cases where obsessive thoughts in the patient are too unusual, and the manifestation of a compulcility is clearly eccentric).
For diagnosis, an important understanding of how the patient perceives the incoming thoughts: as its own or as imposed from the outside.
It is necessary to remember another important nuance: depression itself is often accompanied by an Ohm.
And in order for a specialist to determine the level of severity of this disorder, a test for the detection of OCR or the scale of Yel-Brown is used. The scale has two parts, in each of them 5 questions. The first part of the issues helps to understand the frequency of obsessive thoughts and determines whether they correspond to the OCD, and the second part of the questions make it possible to analyze the patient's compulsion.
In cases where this disorder is not so strongly expressed, the person is able to cope with the disease itself. To do this, it will not be enough to focus on these thoughts and turn your attention to other things. You can, for example, start reading, or see a good and interesting movie, call to a friend, etc.
If you have a desire, the need to perform a ritual action, try to postpone it for 5 minutes, and then gradually increase the time and more and more reduce the execution of these actions. This will make it possible to understand that you yourself can calm down without any stereotypical actions.
And in those cases where this disorder is in moderate severity and higher, then the help of a specialist: psychiatrist, psychologist, or psychotherapist.
In the most powerful cases, the psychiatrist appoints medication treatment. But, unfortunately, medicines do not always contribute to the treatment of this disorder, and the effect of them is not permanent. So, after the course of drugs ends, the disorders return again.
It was for this reason that psychotherapy received great distribution. Thanks to her today, about 75% of patients with OKR recovered. Tools of the psychotherapist can be the most varying: cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, exposure or hypnosis. It is more important that they all have good help and help to achieve good results.
The best results give an exposure technique. Its essence is that the patient is forced to "face their fears in situations where he controls the situation. For example, a person who is afraid of microbes "makes" poke the elevator button and not run to wash your hands right away. And so each time complicates the requirements, and as a result, a person understands that it is not so dangerous and it becomes familiar to him who used to have frightened him.
It is important to understand and accept the fact that the OCD is the same serious personal disorder as all other disorders. That is why it is very important for patients with attitudes and understanding of relatives and loved ones. After all, otherwise, hearing ridicule, curses and not receiving an understanding of a person can close even more, and this will lead to an increase in tension, which will bring a bunch of new problems.
To do this, we will advise you to seek help to a psychologist not alone. Family therapy will help family members understand not only the patient, but also to realize the causes of this disease. Thanks to this therapy, their relatives will understand how to behave correctly with the sick and how to help them.
It is also important for each person an understanding of the fact that in order to prevent obsessive-compulsive syndrome to be followed by simple preventive advice:
Remember, OCD is not a mental illness, but a neurotic disorder and does not lead a person to personal changes. The most important thing is that it is reversible and with the right approach you can easily overcome the OCC. Be healthy and enjoy life.
In Russia, the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other disorders from his group has always caused a lot of disputes and contradictions, and often people suffering from this disorder have undeservedly received a stigmatizing diagnosis "" and did not have access to modern treatment methods.
Previously, an obsessive-compulsive disorder was referred to a group, and now it is increasingly allocated to a separate group of diseases having similar neurobiological, phenomenological, psychopathological features, as well as comparable approaches to therapy. With the last revision of the American classification of Mental Disorders of DSM-5, a group of obsessive compulsive disorders was taken next to the alarming disorders and disorders associated with stress. It includes such categories as OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), a physical dismiest disorder ( body Dysmorphic Disorder.), trichothylomania (obsessive hair pulling) and obsessive excoring ( excoriation Disorder.).
For obsessive-compulsive disorder, several symptoms are characteristic.
Obsessions - These are obsessive thoughts, desires, doubts or images that cause anxiety. For example, an obsessive fear to infect dangerous infection or unacceptable thoughts of sexual, religious nature, the fear look ridiculously or be dangerous for other people. The more the person is trying not to think about it, distracting and stop worrying, the more often he is back and again returns to these thoughts and images, they are increasingly flooded with consciousness and cause pronounced alarm.
The people suffering from obsessions is trying to cope with this condition, to do something to prevent imaginary danger for himself or others, as well as reduce his own alarm, discomfort, feel relief. These actions are called compaulsiAnd sometimes they acquire excessive and even confused. For example, people who have obsessive fear of pollution can wipe all the surfaces of the apartment with alcohol, wash their hands in many ways a day or go out into the street only in gloves. Those who fear their own teases, for example, sex or religion, actively avoid sexual relations or visiting religious places.
But if a collision with a frightening stimulus is still inevitable, then a compulcility (they are differently called rituals) help neutralize the danger. Rituals can be incomprehensible to those surrounding people: for example, a person needs to turn around himself several times, knock on a tree, do something at certain hours and days of the week. Faith in the fact that, observing certain rituals, we can influence reality, called magic thinking in psychology. In everyday life, we regularly encounter him in the form of superstitions.
Sometimes obsessive actions (compulsices) are not associated with negative emotions. Such manifestations include, for example, an obsessive score, singing or desire not to attack tiles on the sidewalk.
With any obsessive-compulsive disorder, a triad is present: obsessive thoughts - obsessions, anxiety, which they cause, and actions aimed at reducing anxiety - a compulcility. The relief that occurs as a result of these actions is usually temporary. In the long run, the compulsice does not help, but only support the problem and disadvantaged a person.
With OCC, a person spends on obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions a lot of time. Oll life, relationships with loved ones begin to suffer. It is not possible to find time on important things, since the symptoms of the disorder occupy more and more time - up to several hours a day, and in some cases even all day. Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder significantly reduce ability to work: patients aged from 15 to 44 years old World Health Organization includes OCC in twenty most often disabled diseases.
There are various options for obsessive compulsive disorder. A number of people are more pronounced obsessions, others have a compulcia. For example, trichothylomania - obsessive hair pulling out of the head - manifests itself only by compulsions, and the obsessive part is either no, or is not realized.
Obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions are individual, but there are typical alarm topics that are most often found among people from the OCD. For example, many forms of OCC are associated with a feeling of increased responsibility for themselves or others. A typical fear is the fear of pollution or infection. By touching the dirty surfaces, to the subjects that were on the street, in contact with the floor, with shoes, a person fears that it can be stained or infected with a dangerous disease, and its compulsive actions are aimed at trying to clean hands, body, clothes after a collision with the outside world.
There is also the concept of "mental dirt", when a person feels dirty and compulsively seeks to be cleaned with the emergence of morally unacceptable and unpleasant thoughts. Often with this type of OCD tanted taboo, "wiggy" thoughts. A deeply religious person comes to mind an obscene scene of a religious nature, and in a man of highly oral behavior may have an obsessive thought that he commits obscene actions in a public place. In such cases, mental rituals may appear: for example, immediately after "bad" thoughts think about something good.
Frections are the ideas associated with the order, symmetry and the ideal performance of actions or rituals. The person has an obsessive thought that it is necessary to strengthen clothes in a closet in strict order, sorting it in colors or other characteristics, ideally park the car, leave things in strictly dedicated places for them, and if this is not done, something bad may happen .
Another typical manifestation is obsessive fear to cause harm to the people around people. An obsessive-compulsive disorder often occurs in young mothers in the early postpartum period in the form of fear to harm her child: "Suddenly I have a damn baby, take it for a knife or throw it out the window?" Mother can comply with all the sharp objects, do not trust themselves and ask for a child to download, buy and swaded only the spouse.
Can obsessive thoughts arise in the normal? Canadian scientists conducted a multicenter study in 14 countries [ 1] Da Clark, 2014. Healthy people were interviewed whether they had ever obsessive thoughts or thoughts, the content of which they seemed strange, unacceptable. The results of this study showed that in the norm in 80% of people such thoughts occur periodically, more often in stressful periods.
Why a separate obsessive thought coming in the head of most people does not become a disorder? Most of us do not appreciate the obsessions as something frightening or abnormal: the strange thought came, twisted and left. With an obsessive-compulsive disorder for an obsessive thought, anxiety should be anxiety or even fear, and an obsessive desire to get rid of it - a competection, then again the thought and a compulcia again. The vicious circle is repeated many times and leads to disadaptation. That is, the people who suffer from the OCC are afraid of intrusive thoughts, unlike people without OCD, belonging to strange ideas as to "brain spam", which simply occurs in the head.
It often happens that during the life of some obsessive experiences are replaced by others. For example, at 20 years old, a person was disturbed by the fear of infection, and in 25 years old worried the ideas of harm. Against the background of increasing the overall level of stress, the symptoms of the OCP increase, and on the background of the decline - weaken. At the same time there are observations that show that during severe shocks, such as wars or disasters, the symptoms of the OCC could temporarily stop. Superxile stress can serve as an antidote, but only temporary.
There is no specific group of people who occur more often. An obsessive-compulsive disorder can affect both adults and adolescents and children. The most frequent age of the diagnosis is around 19-20 years, but there are cases of diagnosis and after 35 years. It is believed that approximately 1.2% of the US adult population have obsessive-compulsive disorder, while women are diagnosed more often than in men: 1.8% against 0.5%. More than half of the patients hide the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. Between the beginning of the obsessive-compulsive disorder and the appeal to the doctor on average passes 12-14 years.
There are studies that confirm that the genetic predisposition to the development of the OCD exists. This is a polygenic disease: we cannot identify one gene, which is responsible for disorder. While we can say for sure: if there is a parent, the likelihood that the OCC will have a child or adolescent, higher than in the middle population. As far as is unknown. We are talking about increased risks, and not absolute inheritance of genetic predisposition.
Biological determinants show that people suffering from OCR have a more disturbing brain. Their limbic system is more reactive. The front cortex, which is responsible for the cognitive regulation of emotions, reacts slower to emotional outbreaks. It is not about the characteristics of the structure, but about the peculiarities of the functioning of the brain of people from the OCD. At the same time, numerous studies of the structure of the brain of patients of ocry and possible neuropsychological deviations did not reveal any pathologies in the anatomical structure of the brain. Also there are evidence that the risk of OCC is higher in people who have experience of physical or sexual violence or mental injury in childhood. In some cases, it was shown that people who transferred streptococcal infection in childhood are at risk of developing OCD or similar to OCC symptoms. To accurately explain this phenomenon of science so far can not be reliably.
An obsessive-compulsive disorder is a separate disorder, it is not a symptom of another disease. This is very important, especially for the Russian context. A number of psychiatrists of the Soviet psychiatric school believed that the obsessive-compulsive disorder does not exist, and its manifestations are symptoms of schizophrenia. In this regard, a large number of people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder have undeservedly received a heavy, stigmatizing diagnosis. Now all over the world, the OCD is distinguished as a separate disease, he has its own diagnostic criteria, symptoms and strategies for effective treatment. It is very important that people receive a correct diagnosis and timely efficient treatment.
People suffering from OCR may have comorbide (coexisting) disorders. For example, against the background of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a panic disorder may develop or arise individual panic attacks. Or against the background of a long disease, depression can develop from OCC. A person can be so immersed in his experiences that he stops going out into the street, communicate with the surrounding people. He understands that this is not normal, but nothing can do anything. Such a regime of life inevitably leads to the formation of secondary depression.
There are several approaches to the treatment of OCD. The most famous - drug treatment. It is carried out according to the world generally accepted in the world: begin with the preparations of the first choice, and if the medicine did not work in maximum doses, the second drug is prescribed and evaluate its effectiveness for a certain time, and so until the result is appropriate.
The main group of preparations for the treatment of OCC are selective inhibitors of serotonin reverse seizure. These drugs are used, as a rule, in higher dosages than for the treatment of depression. The effectiveness of treatment is estimated after 8-12 weeks, which is significantly later compared with the standard for disturbing or depressive disorders (6 weeks). If the inhibitors of serotonin reverse seizure inhibitors are not triggered, another drug is used, tricyclic antidepressant - clomipramine, which showed a very high efficiency of OCC treatment in many studies. In combination with antidepressants, atypical neuroleptics can also be used. With competently selected therapy, symptoms can become significantly less intense or completely stop.
In addition, psychotherapeutic treatment is widely used at the OCC. Here proved its effectiveness cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. The process of psychotherapy includes a discussion of the idea that people often suffer from anxiety when they perceive situations more dangerous than they really are. Effective cognitive work helps a person to formulate an alternative, less threatening interpretation of what is happening, which coincides with his life experiences and ideas of other people. In the future, cognitive behavioral therapists use the technology of exposure and prevent the reaction to verify these new interpretations. For example, a person with the fear of infection, which is afraid to touch the surfaces in public places, together with the therapist for 10 seconds voluntarily holds his hand on such a surface. At this point, he has a strong alarm, an acute desire to realize a compulsion - to remove his hand and go to wipe it with alcohol. Together with therapist, the patient plans that it will not respond in this way, holds 10 seconds and will not wash your hand. With repeated repetition of such alarm actions for the tenth time, much less than in the first, and if it makes a sufficient number of times, anxiety may generally be reduced. Many modern studies suggest that psychotherapy is a more efficient treatment method than pharmacotherapy, with fewer recurrences.
With very heavy or long-term outflows, separately drug treatment or psychotherapy do not give the desired result. Then the combination of medication and psychotherapeutic treatment will be effective.
To date, many studies have been conducted with respect to obsessive-compulsive disorder. We approximately understand the biological prerequisites and features of the psychological functioning of people from the OCD. We know how to treat this disorder, but these knowledge is not enough. Anyway, there are cases in which we cannot help the patient known methods, and we do not really understand why this happens. Now they are developing new technological methods of assistance in resistant cases. For this, the method of deep stimulation of the brain is used ( deep Brain Stimulation). The brain is implemented an electrode that stimulates the brain in a certain zone and reduces the symptoms of the OCP. Since this is an invasive method of treatment and while little studied his long-term consequences, deep stimulation of the brain remains in the zone of scientific research and does not apply in practice.
Thanks to psychological studies, we know that in different cultures, obsessive-compulsive disorders can manifest themselves in a specific way, for example, if there are bad signs in culture, in response to these signs ("Black Cat has crossed the road"), a compulcility can develop. We know that the family context can affect the course of obsessive compulsive disorder. Potakating obsessions and compulsions of the patient family member, unfortunately, contributes not to recovery, but fixing the disorder. The influence of social, cultural, family factors for this disorder is now very interesting for science.
Studies are conducted in which specialists are trying to study the relationship between the OCD and the disorders of the autistic spectrum. It was noted that certain correlations exist, but causal relations were not yet established. We still know very little about genetics, and about the biology of this disorder. More knowing about the OCD, we will be able to be more effective in the therapy of this disease, heavy for patients and their families.
If you notice all the following symptoms, you should contact a psychotherapist. If a specialist confirms the diagnosis, you will receive help.
Strange, unpleasant, disturbing thoughts come to mind. You do not want to think about it, but thoughts continue to come outside of your desire.
The alarming thoughts take more than one hour a day for the aggregate.
Thoughts begin to seriously interfere, causing strong anxiety or anxiety.
Because of obsessive thoughts, it is necessary to miss important things to cancel plans. Much time goes to fight alarming ideas, ordinary life begins to go to the background.
Many patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder are very shy of their thoughts, it seems to them that they are stupid, strange or dangerous. They feel awkwardness and try to talk less about them, because often even relatives can laugh and say: "Listen, some kind of stupidity" and not refer to the experiences seriously.
Why is it important to turn to a specialist as quickly as possible? The earlier treatment started, the more likely it will be easier to help the patient. With the early start of treatment, a person can be helped exclusively psychotherapeutically, without the use of psychopharmacological agents.
It is also important to know when to contact the psychotherapist is not worth it. If you've anxious thought came to your mind, the annoying song was stuck or you think about somewhat for a few days and you can't throw out this thought from my head, you do not need to panic. Remember research: 80% of people in those or another periods of life may experience obsessive thoughts. This is normal. The so-called brain spam comes to our head and is not a sign of disorder. It should be worried when you see that these thoughts take too much time and because of them your life begins to negatively transform.
It is believed that love resembles the symptoms of the OCD. Indeed, love is a mental fixation on one object. From the point of view of what force, our thoughts are capturing, the similarities really have. But at the same time, unlike the OCD, love is pleasant, as a rule, I do not want to get rid of it. Love more often helps a person, makes it more efficient and productive, in contrast to the OCD, which can seriously violate the quality of life. These are different phenomena, and love is a normal, healthy state of a person, and not at all obsessive-compulsive disorder.
We thank Daria Maryasov, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Candidate of Medical Sciences, for the help in the scientific editing of the article.
1463 2018-06-21
Ossessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - syndrome, the causes of which rarely lie on the surface. This severe mental state is characterized by the presence of obsessive thoughts (obsessions), which a person meets certain actions (compulsions), similar to the infinite obsessive dialogue of a person with himself.
Doctors include such a disorder to. The name of the disease "obsessive-compulsive disorder" of origin. In translation, it sounds like "obsession of the idea of \u200b\u200bcoercion", which very accurately determines the essence of the disease. According to medical statistics, the obsessive-compulsive disorder is formed in the interval from 10 to 30 years. Regardless of when it was the first of his symptoms, people treat a doctor between 27 and 35 years. This means that from the moment of the development of the disease and before the start of treatment it takes several years. The symptoms of the disorder may vary depending on the age of the patient.
Obsession (lat. obsessio. - "Siege") - a thought or desire, which constantly pops up in the mind. Thought this difficult to control or get rid of it, and it causes strong. The obsessive states are characterized by the appearance of contradictory will and the mind of desires and aspirations that a person clearly realizes, but does not accept and does not want to implement. The obsessive thoughts conflict with the subconscious, causing an increase in emotionality, depression and anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, all this is accompanied by shame and a sense of guilt. People with OCC syndrome do not seek professional help, because they are shy, they are afraid or do not know that their illness can be treated, incl. non-drug. Get rid of independently from obsessive ideas is unlikely to succeed. In this case, the help of a specialist is required. Otherwise, the ailment completely absorbs the psyche of man. Avoidance and impulsive actions initially "work": a person thinks that he has prevented harm, and it ceases to feel alarm. But in the future, they will create even more anxiety and fear, fueling the obsession.
People faced with obsessive-compulsive disorders even during the times of gloomy Middle Ages (at that time such a state was called obsession), and in the IV century it was counted to melancholy. OCPs were periodically recorded in paranoia,, manic psychosis, psychopathy. Modern doctors include pathology to neurotic states.
Almost everyone experienced similar obsessive thoughts. However, a person from the OCC has a level of concern from such thoughts. People suffering from OCD, in some countries are considered disabled. Most of them spend a lot of time meaningless due to compulsions. To avoid too strong anxiety, a person is often forced to resort to some "guarding" actions - compells (LAT. compello. - "Forced").
At the initial stage, the symptoms of illness are manifested in the form of obsessive states and various phobias. During this period, a person can still realize their irrationality. Over time, subject to the absence of drug and psychological assistance, the disorder is sharpened. A person loses the ability to adequately regard his fears. In the launched cases, hospitalization and treatment with the use of serious medicines is possible.
The term compulsion often denotes obsessive movements or rituals performed by man every day. These are actions that a person repeats again and again in response to an obsessive idea to reduce the risk of damage. A compulcing can be physical (like a repeated check, whether the door is locked, repetition of certain gestures) or mental (as the pronunciation of a certain phrase in the mind). For example, it can be the pronouncement of a special phrase to "protect relatives from death" (this is called "neutralization").
Compaulsis in the form of endless checks (for example, gas cranes), mental rituals (special words or prayers, repeated in the prescribed manner), are common in the OCR syndrome. Compaulsia (which distinguishes them from impulsive deposits) never become reality, do not implement. The man himself considers his attachments wrong, unclean or nasty nature - and therefore it worries very hard. In turn, the fact of the emergence of unnatural desires provokes the emergence of an obsessive feeling of fear.
The most common fear of infection with microbes in combination with obsessive washing and cleaning. Because of the fear of becoming infected, people go on a lot: do not touch the door handles, the seats of the toilet, they avoid handshake, do not touch or wear gloves without removing. What is characteristic, in the syndrome of the OKR, a person stops wash his hands not when they are clean, and then, when will finally feel "relief".
For example, against the background of the fatigue of a woman who raises a child, can periodically visit the thoughts on causing harm to their baby. Most, of course, dismissed such obsessions, ignores them. People suffering from the OCR, exaggerate the importance of thoughts and react to them, as in the threat: "What if I really can do this?!"
A woman begins to think that it can become a threat to a child, and it causes her alarming and other negative, such as disgust, a sense of guilt and shame. Thoughts represent the most deep fears of personality.
The fear of its own thoughts can lead to attempts to neutralize negative feelings arising from obsessions, for example, avoiding situations causing relevant thoughts, or participating in the "rituals" of excessive self-cleaning or prayer.
Despite the many research devoted to the OCR, it is still possible to say unequivocally, which is the main reason for the violation, but there are a large number of theories. For this condition, they can respond as physiological factors (impairment of the balance in nerve cells) and psychological.
According to one of the fundamental laws of behavioral psychology, the repetition of a behavioral act makes it easier to reproduce it in the future.
People with OCC syndrome always try to avoid things capable of running fear, "fight" with thoughts or perform "rituals" to reduce anxiety. Such actions temporarily reduce fear, but paradoxically, according to the law vicked up above, increase the likelihood of obsessive behavior in the future. Avoiding the object of fear, instead of pulling it out, can lead to sad consequences.
Researchers suggest that the suffering of OCD give the exaggerated meaning of thoughts due to false beliefs obtained in childhood. For example:
Ossessive compulsive syndrome is amazing and unpredictable. It is quite common (according to statistics they suffer to 3% of people). Representatives of all ages are exposed to him, regardless of the floor and the level of social status. Studying for a long time, the features of this disorder, scientists made curious conclusions:
The symptoms of the OCD are about the same, have a general mechanism.
Obsessive thoughts. Anxious reflections, relentlessly persecuting a person, more often concern fear of diseases, microbes, death, possible injuries, loss of money. From such thoughts, a person comes into panic horror, unable to cope with them.
Constant anxiety. Being in captivity of obsessive thoughts, people with obsessive-compulsive disorder are experiencing an internal struggle with their own state. The subconscious "eternal" alarms give rise to a chronic feeling that something terrible will happen. Such people are difficult to derive anxiety from the state.
Repeating movements. One of the bright manifestations of the syndrome is the constant repetition of certain movements (compulsion). Obsessive actions differ in rich variety. Human can:
Sometimes the syndrome is accompanied by a decrease. OCD is such a disorder, which is particularly subject to a minting personality. They have a habit to control everything, starting with affairs at work and ending with diet of domestic animals. The decrease in self-assessment occurs due to the awareness of the changes occurring and the inability to deal with them.
Often impulsively compulsive disorder requires a person to create its own inspection system, a certain individual ritual of exit from home, laying into bed, food intake. Such a system is sometimes very complex and confusing. If something is broken in it, the person begins to spend it again and again.
A man with OCD can too exaggerate its capabilities and the ability to influence the world. He believes in his power to call or prevent bad events by the power of thought. "Magic" suggests faith in the fact that the fulfillment of certain special actions, rituals will prevent something undesirable (similar to superstition).
So a person feels the illusion of comfort, as if he has more influence on events and control over what is happening. As a rule, wanted to feel calmer, the person produces rituals more and more often, which leads to the progression of neurosis.
The attacks of the disease occur more often when a person finds himself in the middle of a big crowd. He instantly wakes up squeaming, fear of illness and nervousness from the feeling of danger. Therefore, such people deliberately avoid society, communication and walks in crowded places.
To confirm or refute the Mental Disorder of OCC, a person should be consulted by a psychiatrist. After a psychodiagnostic conversation conducted, the doctor differentizes the presence of pathology from similar mental warehouse disorders. To accurately detect the syndrome, the doctors use a special scale of Yel-Brown. Any attempts to take control of your own consciousness and defeat the OCD most often lead to a deterioration in the state. And the pathology "rushes" in the crust of the subconscious, destroying the human psyche even more. Symptoms of the disease to have medical importance should be repeated at least 50% of days within two weeks.
The main goal of treatment develops from the establishment of the confidence relations of the patient of a person and his close environment (relatives, friends). Reward yourself. Psychologists advise constantly celebrating steps towards success, even the most minor. You need to praise yourself for the acquired changes and the surveyed skills.
Treatment of the OCR, which includes combinations of methods of psychological correction, may vary depending on the effectiveness of the sessions.
To date, experts have significantly expanded the ideas about the etiology of the disease. The most important factor in the direction of therapy of obsessive compulsive disorders to neurotransmission is important. This discovery is a revolution in the treatment of the disease under consideration, it makes it possible to cure millions of pain around the world. What way is possible to replenish the deficit of serotonin in the body? Help in this question can
Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CCT), EMDR-therapy, short-term strategic psychotherapy, respiratory practices, and hypnosis are used to treat the obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Complete disposal of symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder in medical practice is observed extremely rare. The stabilization of symptoms and facilitating the state of a person by improving the quality of his life will be more realized.
Content
Anxious state, fear of trouble, repeated hand washing - only a few signs of a dangerous obsessive-compulsive disease. The fault line between normal and obsessive states can turn into the abyss if it does not diagnose the OCR (from the lat. Obsessive is an obsession, siege, and compulsive - coercion).
A desire to check something all the time, a feeling of anxiety, fear has a different degree of severity. It is possible to talk about the presence of a disorder if the obsessions (from the lat. Obsessio - "presentations with a negative color") appear with a certain periodicity, provoking the occurrence of stereotypical actions called a compulcility. What is OCC in psychiatry? Scientific definitions are reduced to the interpretation, which is neurosis, obsessive state syndrome caused by neurotic or mental disorders.
The opposition-causing disorder for which fear is characteristic, obsession, depressive mood, lasts a long period of time. Such specifics of obsessive-compulsive malaise makes the diagnosis of complex and simple at the same time, but at the same time a certain criterion is taken into account. According to the adopted classification on Snezhnevsky, based on the participation of the flow features, the disorder is characterized by:
Among the obsessive thoughts, there are alien to the true desires of the very person in a compulsive malaise. Fearing to make something that a person is not able to commit because of the character or upbringing, for example, blasphemy during religious service or a person thinks that he can harm his loved ones - these are signs of contrast obsession. The fear of causing harm with obsessive-compulsive violation leads to a diligent avoidance of the subject, which caused such thoughts.
At this stage, the obsessive disorder can be characterized as the need to make some actions that bring relief. Often senseless and irrational compulsices (obsessive actions) take one form or another, and such widespread variation makes it difficult to form a diagnosis. The emergence of actions are preceded by negative thoughts, impulsive actions.
Among the most common signs of obsessive-compulsive ailments are the following:
Fear, albeit unreasonable, provokes the emergence of obsessive thoughts, actions that reach the absurdity. Anxious state in which the obsessive-phobic disorder reaches such sizes, is amenable to treatment, and rational therapy is considered to be the method of four steps of Jeffrey Schwarz or working as a traumatic event, experience (obverse therapy). Among phobias with an obsessive-compulsive violation of the most well-known claustrophobia (fear of a closed space).
When negative thoughts or feelings arise, but a compulsive malaise of the patient far from the diagnosis - bipolar affective disorder, have to look for a way to neutralize the obsessive syndrome. The psyche forms some obsessive rituals, which are expressed by meaningless acts or the need to perform repeated compulsive actions similar to superstition. Such rituals himself can be considered illogical, but the alarming disorder is forced to repeat everything first.
Obsessive thoughts or actions that are perceived as incorrect or painful, can make harm to physical health. Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder can be solitary, have a different degree of severity, but if you ignore the syndrome - the state will deteriorate. The obsessive-compulsive neurosis can accompany apathy, depression, so it is necessary to know the signs for which it will be possible to diagnose OCD (OCD):
It occurs less frequently than in adults, and when diagnosing, a compulsive disorder is often detected in adolescents, and only a small percentage is the children of 7 years of age. Belonging to the floor does not affect the appearance or development of the syndrome, while the obsessive-compulsive disorder in children does not differ from the main manifestations of neurosis in adults. If parents manage to notice the signs of the OCC, then it is necessary to contact the psychotherapist to select a treatment plan with the use of medicines and behavioral, group therapy.
Comprehensive study of the syndrome, many studies have not been able to give a clear answer to the question of the nature of obsessive-compulssant violations. Psychological factors may influence the well-being of a person (suffering stress, problems, fatigue) or physiological (chemical imbalance in nerve cells).
If you dwell on factors, then the reasons for the OCR look like this:
Almost complete recovery is not excluded, but long-term therapy will be required to get rid of obsessive-compulsive neurosis. How to treat OCD? Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder is carried out comprehensively with a consistent or parallel application of techniques. Compulsive personality disorder in the severe form of OCC requires drug treatment or biological therapy, and when easy to use the following techniques. It:
