obsessive-compulsive disorder…

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obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, ocd, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions, compulsions, having one, is sufficient, the diagnosis, an obsession, recurrent, intrusive thought, feeling, idea, sensation, a compulsion, conscious, recurrent pattern of behavior a person feels driven to perform, behavior, a physical action, handwashing, a mental act, praying, repeating words silently, counting, behavior is aimed at neutralizing anxiety, distress, one example of this, excessive handwashing intended to ward off infection, ocd was previously believed to be rare, recent data show that 2-3% of people, 7 million americans, suffer from this disorder, ocd, is noticed between the ages of 20, 75% of those who, develop it show symptoms by age 30, several psychological theories, the cause of ocd, none has been confirmed, reports associate ocd, head trauma, infections, similarly, several studies showing brain abnormalities in patients, ocd, inconsistent results, require more investigation, interestingly, 20% of ocd sufferers, motor tics, suggesting it related to tourette syndrome, link is not clear, obsessions, compulsions that cause significant distress, interference, everyday life, due to medical illness, drug use, person, recognizes that the behavior, excessive, unreasonable, person's own description, the behavior, leads to diagnosis, the disorder, a physical exam is performed to rule out physical causes, a psychiatric evaluation is given to rule out other psychiatric disorders, questionnaires, yale-brown obsessive compulsive scale, diagnosis ocd, track the progress of treatment, ocd is treated using medications, psychotherapy, first medication considered, an antidepressant, effective, lacks severe side effects, antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, ssri, seem effective in treating ocd by increasing the serotonin available, in the brain, ssris include fluvoxamine, luvox, fluoxetine, prozac, sertraline, zoloft, paroxetine, paxil, citalopram, celexa, an ssri antidepressant is not effective, clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant, clomipramine, oldest medication treatment, ocd, more effective than ssri antidepressants but has more numerous, unpleasant side effects, sedation, difficulty starting urination, dry mouth, a drop in blood pressure, rising, a seated position, in more resistant cases, an ssri, clomipramine combined, medications, benzodiazepines, offer some relief from anxiety, generally used only in conjunction, the more reliable treatments, psychotherapy, occur on an individual basis, group setting, reduce anxiety, resolve inner conflicts, provide effective ways of reducing stress, behavioral therapies, employed, exposure/response prevention, person is repeatedly exposed to a situation that triggers anxiety symptoms, learns to resist the urge to perform the compulsion, thought-stopping, person learns to stop unwanted thoughts, focus attention on relieving anxiety, ocd, chronic illness, psychiatric illnesses, has periods of exacerbation followed by periods of relative improvement, though a completely symptom-free interval, unusual, most sufferers have considerable improvement, most likely long-term consequences of ocd, nature, the obsessions, compulsions, constant handwashing, cause skin breakdown, ocd, does not ordinarily progress into another disease, obsession is interfering, daily life, work, relationships, compulsion is consuming an inordinate amount, energy, no known prevention, disorder.