Unwanted and disturbing thoughts come to everyone's mind from time to time. What causes such thoughts to turn into obsessions is the importance given to these thoughts and the meaning given to them. When these thoughts that enter the mind are ignored, the discomfort they cause will not last long. However, if these thoughts are taken seriously and different meanings are attributed to them, it becomes difficult to cope with the situation.
Obsessive thoughts enter people's minds involuntarily and cause high levels of distress. This distress they create may prevent people from performing their daily tasks. Repetitive behaviors that people engage in to reduce the anxiety caused by their obsessive thoughts and to get rid of these thoughts are called compulsions.
Many people in society live with obsessions and compulsions that cause them to lose a lot of time and impair their functionality during their daily work. The most common themes seen in obsessions are; contamination, control, order, sexual and religious themes. For example, “Did I lock the door of the house?” The thought may come to the mind of many people who leave their homes. However, a person with obsessions and compulsions may not be able to relax even if he returns home and checks that he has locked the door. He may need to check the lock on the door more than once, or he may think back to that moment over and over again to prove to himself that he locked the door. A person can develop different methods to remove this doubt from his mind. However, although these methods may seem to relieve the person at the moment, they cause increased anxiety in the future. When these and similar obsessions and compulsions start to take up too much of the person's time during the day, the suspicion of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) should be evaluated.
OCD is the obsessive thoughts (obsessions) that appear involuntarily in the mind and cause discomfort in the person, and the effects of these thoughts. It is a disorder accompanied by compulsions to reduce anxiety. Many people are unaware that this condition is a treatable disorder. However, the response rate of OCD to psychotherapy administered simultaneously with medication is quite high. People use the knowledge and skills they acquire during the psychotherapy process on a daily basis. When they transfer it to their health, they can live free from this disorder that impairs their functionality and prevents them from enjoying life.
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