Very Common Psychiatric Disorder

1. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE
DISORDER (OCD)
By Dr Faiza Akhlaque

2. What is OCD ?
 OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that cause
uneasiness, apprehension , fear or worry by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing
the associated anxiety or by combination of such obsessions and compulsions.
 OCD has 2 components which are:
1)Obsession
2)Compulsion

3. 1)Obsession:
 Repetitive ,intrusive thoughts and ideas or impulses that are recognized as a foreign or repugnant
to the individual .They are involuntary ,seemingly uncontrollable thoughts ,images or impulses that
occur over and over again in mind
 Signs and Symptoms of Obsessive thoughts :
Fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt
Fear of causing harm
Violent thoughts and images
Excessive focus on religious or moral ideas
Fear of loosing or not having things that u might need
Thinking too much about Corona/Covid these days

4.  Irrational acts that person feels compelled to repeat against his will
->Help to control anxiety created by Obsessions
->checkers and cleaners
->repeating phrases
 Signs and Symptoms of compulsive behaviors:
->Double checking of things like locks , switches etc
->Spending so much time in cleaning
->Repeatedly checking love ones that to make sure that they are safe
->Counting senseless things to reduce anxiety
Signs

5. Statistics about OCD
 More cases before the age of 18 years
 Gender common: Male >Females
 Age of onset: young age of females > males
 More common in Europe then in Asia

6. Possible causes of OCD
 Common cause is stress
 Life style modification e.g New job , Puberty
 Basal ganglia dysfunction
 Genetics: h SERT mutation
 Association with Neurological disorders which cause dysfunction of striatum like
Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease etc

7. Treatment options for OCD includes:
 Behavioral therapy
 Pharmacology: First line is SSRI including citalopram , fluoxetine , paroxetine etc
 Cognitive behavioral therapy
 Psychotherapy can be done to reduce anxiety and to resolve inner conflicts