Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder seen as soul cancer. The reason why it is seen as soul cancer is that it starts innocently at first and then gradually turns to different areas of life and disrupts the quality of life. Most of us have returned home and checked to see if we unplugged the iron or turned off the tap or the window. However, the gradual increase in the number of checks and anxiety, and the fact that this anxiety continues to be experienced outside the home despite being checked many times, brings this disorder to the agenda.
Obsession: These are thoughts, ideas and impulses that the person cannot prevent from entering his mind and cannot remove from his mind. They come against the person's will, are evaluated as irrational by the person, and cause intense distress and restlessness, that is, anxiety.
Compulsion: These are repetitive behaviors and mental actions performed to reduce or eliminate the intense distress and restlessness caused by obsessions. To give an example, the idea that the hands of someone who washes them dozens of times a day is dirty and needs to be washed is an obsession; The accompanying hand washing behavior is also a compulsion.
Some symptoms of obsession; Fear of dirt or contamination, fear of harming someone else, fear of making mistakes, fear of being embarrassed or behaving in a socially unacceptable way, fear of thinking evil or sinful, need for order, symmetry, perfection, excessive suspicion and constant need for reassurance…
Some compulsion symptoms: Repeatedly washing, showering or washing hands, refusing to shake hands or touching the doorknob, constantly checking things such as locks, stoves, etc., constantly counting numbers mentally or out loud while doing routine tasks, constantly knowing something organizing in a certain way, eating in a certain order, fixating on words, images or thoughts that are often disturbing, haunting and disrupting sleep, repeating certain words, phrases or prayers, the need to do things a certain number of times, collecting or hoarding things that have no value…
This disorder is explained by a genetic predisposition as well as an intense sense of responsibility acquired in childhood, according to cognitive behavioral therapy. forward In the early stages, some people cannot even leave the house. Or the houses where tons of garbage are accumulated, which we see in the news from time to time, are created by people who have this disease. Sometimes people see the thing they are obsessed with as normal, and sometimes they remain helpless even though they know that there is something abnormal about them. This disorder affects the person's work, private and social life. As the disorder progresses, depression, another disease, may accompany these patients.
Treatment: Research has found a connection between the decrease in the level of the neurotransmitter called serotonin and the development of OCD. Drug treatment can be used for this disorder. But mostly, combined treatment, that is, both medication and psychotherapy, is preferred. In the cognitive behavioral psychotherapy approach, stopping, systematic desensitization and exposure techniques are used. In the stopping technique, for example, the number of people washing their hands a certain number of times per day is reduced by reaching a certain agreement with the client. In the systematic desensitization technique, it is a gradual approach to an object that cannot be touched, for example, with a certain system and gradually. In exposure, practice is provided by exposing the person face to face with the relevant object or situation as much as he or she can tolerate.
Read: 0
