One of the most common concerns in people with OCD is that their obsessive thoughts become reality. They worry that their thoughts will translate into action and suddenly turn into action. If they had taken action, prisons would be filled with OCD sufferers who had surrendered to their thoughts. It is true that very few people with OCD have ever acted against the law or turned their obsessions into action. Based on our clinical experience, we believe that people with OCD commit fewer crimes than the general population (Pudon & Clark, 2013, p. 34).
There are many reasons why people with OCD cannot turn their obsessions into action. First, obsessions cause considerable anxiety and distress and are in no way satisfying to the person. These are not thoughts that occur before or as a result of violent or abusive behavior.
Secondly, engaging in violent or abusive behavior is something as simple as having thoughts about those behaviors. It is not. You may have unwanted aversive thoughts that involve molesting a child, but you must have a desire to view your own sexual urges as more important than preserving the child's innocence so that you are not sufficiently restrained from actually committing such a crime.
Our experience with people with OCD shows that , their minds are not constantly preoccupied with finding ways to harm others, but rather their minds are constantly preoccupied with protecting the safety, health, and happiness of others. Therefore, behaving in the way prescribed by the obsession requires violating personality traits, moral values and ideal standards that do not change easily, and this is not something that will happen automatically.
Most of the obsessions of people diagnosed with OCD do not come true. Existing anxieties only give people a poor quality of life. With psychotherapy service, it is possible to get rid of existing concerns and offer new living standards to the person.
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