Warning signs of obsessive compulsive disorder

What are warning signs that someone might have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

warning signs of obsessive compulsive disorder

OCD stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD is an anxiety disorder and a potentially disabling condition that has two main features: Obsessions and Compulsions.

Obsessions are involuntary, intrusive, upsetting thoughts or images that enters the minds of people with OCD and won't go away. Some obsessions may include:
- Fear of contamination.
- Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky.
- Fear of throwing away things that might be needed.
- Fear of causing harm to yourself or others.
- Constant doubt about whether or not you've done something correctly.
- Need for symmetry/perfection.

These obsessions cause a great deal of anxiety. Anxiety is your brain's warning system. So it feels like you are in danger when you feel anxiety, and it is telling you to do something to 'protect yourself' from the obsession, even though most people with OCD know that these thoughts that keep popping into their heads are unreasonable and don't make any sense, they FEEL real.

They might think 'Why would I have these feelings if they weren't true?'

This is because if you have OCD, your warning system in your brain does not work properly and tells you to feel fear when there is no need to. When scientists look at pictures of the brains of people with OCD and compare them with pictures of the brains of people without OCD, they can see differences in some areas.

People with OCD are constantly trying to get away from the anxiety. To do so, they perform compulsions. Compulsions are repetitive behaviours or thoughts done to make their obsessions go away, but it is only a temporary fix. The obsessions always return, but without a better way to cope, the compulsions are a temporary escape from the anxiety. Some compulsions may include:
- Frequent hand washing.
- Avoiding situations that may trigger the obsessions.
- Praying to prevent harm from coming to yourself or others.
- Telling, asking or confessing, to get reassurance.
- Hoarding (collecting items, causing a big clutter in your home).
- Rereading or rewriting.

@SKR: OCD is not caused by a harsh upbringing. People with OCD are born with it and die with it. There is no cure. Peope with OCD are born with problems in communication between the front part of the brain (the orbital cortex) and deeper structures (the basal ganglia) that use the chemical messenger serotonin are involved. People with OCD have either too much or too little of this chemical, serotonin. OCD runs in families. It is unknown how exactly it is passed on in a family, but scientists have come to believe that the tendency for someone to develop the serotonin imbalance that causes OCD can be inherited through a person's genes, but these genes have not yet been found. A recent discovery found that the neurotransmitter glutamate is also involved.


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What are warning signs that someone might have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?