OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER A GUIDE FOR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Table of Contents

1. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER A GUIDE FOR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
2. WHAT IS OCD?
   1. Examples of OCD
   2. What happens In OCD?
   3. How does someone develop OCD
   4. Why do the problems continue and get worse?
   5. Making sense of OCD
3. THE TREATMENT OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
   1. Treatment
   2. Assessing the problems
   3. What happens In treatment
   4. Some Important points about treatment
   5. How can you get the best out of treatment?
4. ADVICE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS
   1. Advice
   2. How can you maintain improvement?

WHAT IS OCD?

OCD can take many different forms, but most commonly consists of repetitive thoughts and/or actions. The thoughts are usually unpleasant and sufferers often know that the actions carried out are unnecessary. They therefore try to stop having the thoughts or carry out the actions, but are unable to resist. They are obsessed with the thoughts and they feel compelled to carry out the actions; this is where the name 'obsessive compulsive' disorder comes from.

Although these thoughts or actions may sometimes be quite strange, we should make it clear straight away that having obsessional problems does not mean that you are going 'mad'. OCD is not a mental illness, it is an exaggeration of normal thoughts and actions which happen in nearly everyone. Most people find that from time to time they have worrying thoughts which they cannot get out of their heads, or they carry out repetitive actions which are not really necessary. Think of the number of people who cannot go to bed without checking the locks and the gas taps, even if they really know that they are safe. It is just tt~at for some people this kind of action gets out of control and becomes troublesome.

Recent research has shown that the line between 'normal' and abnormal' obsessions is often very vague. In general we say that someone has OCD if the problems have become so severe that they are interfering with the quality of the person's life. It is thought that around 2% to 4% of people have OCD in some form, though not all of these need treatment.