Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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This page is dedicated to all the sufferers of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Why I'm here

Hello everybody! My name is Matt. I'm a 14 male from Kansas.

Well I guess I'll start off by telling you why I'm here.

I'm here to educate others on my disorder. Now the reason I am choosing

to do this is so others will understand the pain and suffering others have to face every day.

The Disorder

I have some what common disorder. Its called Obsessive-Compulsive

Disorder (OCD). Its a mental disorder in which there is a chemical

imbalance in the brain.

It causes people to think in irrational

ways and to act in outrageous

behaviors.

The obsessions cause the person to become terrified and

nervous.

They then react with

compulsions, which relief

the person of anxiety.

People with OCD can't stand to put themselves in normal situations. They will alter their way

of life. OCD can

cause a person to become someone their not.

The Facts

Now I will tell you some facts on OCD. Obsessions are unwanted, recurrent

and unpleasant thoughts that cause anxiety.

Compulsions are repetitive, ritualistic behaviors that the person feels

driven to perform to decrease anxiety.

OCD affects about 1.5% of the general populations

(Approximately five million people in the U.S.A). At least 80 percent of patients with OCD

have both obsessions and compulsions.

The most common obsessions

*Fear of contamination/Germs

*Fear of causing harm to another

*Fear of making a mistake

*Fear of not behaving correctly

*A need for symmetry or exactness

*Excessive doubt

The most common compulsions

*Cleaning/Washing

*Checking

*Arranging/Organizing

*Collecting/Hoarding

*Counting/Repeating

People with OCD spend countless hours obsessing and performing useless rituals.

People with OCD are also usually very tired because they use a lot of energy obsessing and

performing compulsions.

Causes

There are no hard facts to tell how OCD is obtained.

OCD is thought to be a genetic disorder.

This idea has

plenty of evidence and is believed by most doctors.

Another thought is that Strep Throat can

bring on OCD

symptoms, however this is just a theory.

The chemical imbalance in the brian is an imbalance

of Sertonin and Dompamine.

80% of the people with OCD have another disorder called Tourettes Syndrome (TS).

(Georges Gilles de la Tourettes)

This

syndrome is caused by the imbalance of Dompamine in the brian.

This causes the person to

have muscular and/or verbal spasm which are called tics.

Now some of you who are familiar with TS may think of

people shaking wildly of cursing a lot, but that is only in a severe case.

Many people have only

a mild case of TS. Myself I have a middle-class case of TS.

I have jerky movements and wild

ones at times and I also mutter and yell things.

So in a medical sense TS causes OCD.

Treatment

But not all this has to go untreated.

When treating OCD there are two forms of treatment,

Cognitive Behavioral treatment and another form

of treatment is medications. Cognitive Behavioral treatment is a

treatment in which the person is exposed to there obsession and go

without fulfilling their compulsions. This kind of like "facing your

fear".In treating OCD with medications there are many medicines that are

prescribed, here are five of the most common: Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox, and Anafranil.

These medicines do not always work, but 60-80% of the time they do. Also these medicines

do not just work right away. They have to take time to balance in the

body. This usually takes about 6-8 weeks. A person is usually on one of

these medicines for 12-18 months, but can be more or less. I myself am

on Prozac and have noticed that my obsessive thoughts and compulsions

have decreased and I have gain some control over my tics.

The Worst Part

But from everything I have told you so far I have not yet told you the

worst part. The worst part about OCD is the time, the agony, and the

feeling you get when no one understands you. Most people who know about

OCD and have studied it, still can't comprehend the feelings of the

people who have it. With OCD its a constant mental war that you are

always losing. You waste tons of time obsessing and preforming useless

rituals. And of course you have the feeling that you are all alone and

that no one in the world could possibly understand the pain you are in.

That is the hell of OCD.

LINKS!!!

Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation (OCF)

Tourettes Syndrome

Fairlite's OCD Page

Suncomp's OCD Page

OCD Source Page

Epig OCD

There is an AOL chat room for support and information on OCD. We meet on

Fridays from 8:00 - 10:00 pm Eastern Time

The room name is OhhSayDay.

To get on a OCD support mailing list E-mail:

ICUnOREOS2@aol.com

OBSV@aol.com

A rose for all the silent sufferers of OCD.

And also to the people of OCDHelp for letting me use some of their graphics and for all

the information they provided.

Please sign my Guest Book or E-Mail me for questions, comments, support, or permission to

use information.