Annalisa Pena February 16, 2016

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Imagine being controlled by a puppeteer, a slave to the motions, to your actions and

thoughts. That's what OCD does to a person. A constant battle between logic and impulse. The

fear and/or need to do certain things echo in their brains giving them no choice but to give into

their overbearing thoughts. These thoughts are debilitating for people with OCD. It makes it

extremely difficult for them to possess self control. This disorder controls the person like strings

control a puppet, but it can be overcome with medicines and therapy. OCD can tear a person

apart and make them go insane if not dealt with correctly.

What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? OCD is a common and a lifelong disorder

where a person has uncontrollable, recurring thoughts or obsessions and behaviors or

compulsions that they feel the urge and need to repeat multiple times, (NIMH, 2016). OCD is a

neurobiological disorder that causes the brain to be hardwired to act and perform in a certain

manner. The issues with the brain are located in the Orbitofrontal Cortex (Social behavior,

Cognitive planning), Caudate Nucleus (Voluntary movement), and Cingulate gyrus (Emotional

and Motivational responses). OCD is associated with low levels of Serotonin. Which is a

neurotransmitter that communicates between brain structure and helps regulate vital processes

like mood, aggression, impulse control, sleep, appetite, temperature and pain.

Victims of OCD are know for the uncontrollable compulsions that comes with the

disease. These compulsions can vary from tics to excessive hand washing or showering. This can

also include preoccupations with numbers, patterns, morality or sexual identity. Tics come in
many different forms, “Motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements, such as eye blinking

and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking.

Common vocal tics include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds.” (Ted talk,

2016 ) OCD has two aspects to it, The intrusive thoughts, images or impulses (Obsessions) and

Behavioral compulsions to relieve the anxiety. The person with this disorder can’t control these

compulsions. They can try to ignore it but that often results in severe anxiety and

uncomfortableness. A common misconception with OCD is that people that have it aren’t aware

of their “odd” actions. But in fact, they know that they are doing these things. Some people with

OCD report being crazy, and think they are going insane due to lack of education about the

disorder. That's why people should be educated about OCD because it is a common issue. OCD

inserts paralyzing fear into some of its victims that prevent them from being able to touch

anything touched by another soul, even their family.

The struggles that go hand and hand with OCD is not new, OCD has been around and

written about since the 16th century. People hadn’t really taken OCD seriously when it was first

discovered, “In the seventeenth century, obsessions and compulsions were often described as

symptoms of religious melancholy.” They “referred to individuals obsessed by "naughty, and

sometimes Blasphemous Thoughts [which] start in their Minds ... they are exercised in the

Worship of God [despite] all their endeavours to stifle and suppress them ... the more they

struggle with them, the more they increase." (K.H, 2014) OCD victims were dismissed and

covered with religious beliefs that failed to help or have a real explanation for these people’s

actions. However, in the 1700’s John Baptist Scaramelli wrote advice on obsessive thoughts

telling readers “not to fight the thoughts because that only makes the thoughts stronger, but to
accept the thoughts and move on with their day,” (John Bapstist, 2016). This was so much easier

said than done. This tactic would take a lot of time to be effective but it was somewhere to start.

“What causes OCD?” is a common question wondered by the curious and the host of the

disorder. The fact of the matter is, we don’t know. Researchers strongly believe that OCD is

genetic. Ongoing research continues to explore the connection between genetics and OCD which

may help improve OCD diagnosis and treatment. When a mother has OCD and has two children,

it is very likely that the mother will pass on the disorder. OCD can be developed and born with.

A traumatic event such as, physical or sexual abuse in childhood or other trauma can cause OCD.

However, it is easier to spot that find a cause. A common symptom of OCD is excessive hand

washing which comes from the fear of germs, illness and fear of infection or Fear of harming

others. Some other examples are, excessive cleaning, double checking things, compulsive

counting, obsessive organization, walking in patterns and much more. As for treatment, OCD

can be treated with therapy to help correct and deal with the patient's compulsive thoughts and

behaviors. An alternative can be, medicine or “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” such as,

fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, or sertraline. These medicines increase serotonin in the brain which

OCD victims have a lack of. These medicines “often require higher daily doses in the treatment

of OCD than of depression, and may take 8 to 12 weeks to start working, but some patients

experience faster improvement,” (NIMH, 2016). As a last option patients can use Electro

compulsive therapy or surgery to correct the issues in the brain. This surgery involves implanting

a device that shoots electrical impulses into the brain. The Impulses are used to correct the

damaged tissue in the brain, this surgery is also used for Parkinson's disease to stop tremors and

tics. However, there are risks to the surgery which is why it's usually used as a last option. Those
risks include bleeding in the brain, stroke, infection, breathing problems, nausea, heart problems

and seizures.

Most people can relate to better understand to an illness if a face is put to it. A well

known comedian and host of “Deal or No Deal” and judge on “America's Got Talent” known as

Howie Mandel, struggles with OCD. Suspicion rose when Howie would refuse to shake or touch

hands with anyone, he would fist pump them instead of touching palms. His battle with OCD

was confirmed when he admitted it accidently on a radio broadcast with Howard Stern. He

opened up about this endeavor with OCD in an interview with ABC News. In the interview the

interviewer said pointing at a picture of Howie and Johnny Carson, “That’s what folks would

think that sets off a panic attack- is sitting next to Johnny Carson, your idol.” to which Howie

responded, “That’s totally different than the fear OCD injects into my life... which is fear-and

terror”. Howie’s fears occasionally becomes too much. When it overflows him to a point of a

breakdown he escapes to a house on the property of the home he shares with his own Wife and

kids. He says in the interview that a few times a month he gets so terrified that he wants to give

up, but he hasn’t and isn't planning to. When he’s on set the makeup used on his face has to be

brand new every time to ease his anxiety which is also eased with the medicine he is taking for

the anxiety that tags along with OCD, which he doesn’t disclose in the interview. He would have

fights in his head, wanting to wash his hands all the time and takes showers because he felt

filthy. He didn’t fit in at school and eventually dropped out. His fears due to OCD were

debilitating. This is only one example how OCD affects the lives of it’s victims.

Dan Millman once said, “You don’t have to learn how to control your thoughts, you just

have to stop letting them control you.” We all might be able to relate to this quote in a point in

our lives. However, people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or. OCD, deal with this on a
whole other level. As we established, this disorder can be paralyzing and debilitating. Fear,

impulse, obsessions and compulsions all take over to create an uncontrollable urge to be a slave

to your thoughts. With the right treatment, support and patience OCD can be lived with. With

more time, comes more research and with more research comes more possible cures and

answers. Just remember that it can be overcome and the best thing you can do to help yourself

and others with this disorder is to be educated.

Sources:

1. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. (2016, January). Retrieved February 10, 2016, from

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml

2. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. (2016, January). Retrieved February 10, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlRgwdDc-E

3. K. H. (2014, May 5). When Was OCD First Discovered and Is OCD a New Disorder?

Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://superbeefy.com/when-was-ocd-first-discovered-

and-is-ocd-a-new-disorder/

4. Howie Mandel Talks About Living With OCD | 20/20 | ABC News. (n.d.). Retrieved

February 16, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSZNnz9SM4g

5. "History." Of Treatment of OCD. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

Really good example of what a person with OCD feels like in an everyday situation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnKZ4pdSU-s