OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder characterized by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions for a significant time of day, which interfere with the activities of everyday life (work, study, relationship life, home care or hygiene, etc.).

It is a disorder that is chronic, with swinging phases of improvement and deterioration, but without psychological help and a targeted therapeutic pathway, tends to worsen to the point of compromising functioning in different areas of life. It is therefore important to recognize and help those suffering from this disorder and begin a path of healing and reducing daily discomfort with the help of a specialist

The central characteristics of OCD are the repetitiveness, frequency and persistence of obsessions (intrusive thoughts recur to the mind frequently and remain in a lasting and continuous way); the feeling that such activity is enforced and compulsive.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can take different forms, for example:

• cleaning;
• control;
• repetition and counting;
• order and symmetry;
• accumulation/hoarding.

Obsessions
They are ideas, thoughts, impulses or images that suddenly arise in the mind and are perceived as:

• Intrusive: the person has the feeling that they are independent of the flow of thoughts that precedes them;
• Annoying: the person experiences discomfort with the content or frequency;
• Meaningless: the person has the feeling that they are irrational, unjustified or unrelated to present reality.

Compulsions
They are mental actions and/or behaviors that manifest themselves in response to obsessions and represent an attempt at a solution.

They are usually followed by a sense of relief from discomfort, although only a temporary and therefore ephemeral relief, because obsessions will recur continuously.