Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which the sufferer experiences recurring obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions and compulsions feed each other and ultimately make anxiety worse. Obsessions create anxiety, and compulsions attempt to reduce that anxiety but only do so temporarily. Obsessions come back more strongly, compulsions are repeated and expanded.

If you are engaging in these types of behaviors repeatedly, up to more than one hour per day, you might be suffering from what we call obsessive compulsive disorder. Excessive checking may constitute a compulsion - the tendency to engage in repeated, unwelcome behaviors.

People diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder suffer from disturbing thoughts/images and compulsions. If your checking behaviors are indeed compulsions, here are two important criteria a trained professional will look for before applying the obsessive compulsive disorder diagnosis:

1. You are ware, at least at some point, that the obsessions or compulsions you experience are excessive or unreasonable.

2. The obsessions or compulsions (a) are extremely distressing, (b) take up more than an hour of your day, or (c) interfere significantly with your usual way of living.

Obviously, this article cannot diagnose you. If your checking behaviors are causing you distress or disrupting your life, consult with a trained professional for a diagnostic assessment and recommendations for treatment.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is considered to be a neurobehavioral condition. The following findings provide evidence that the brains of people with obsessive compulsive disorder are different than the brains of people who don't have obsessive compulsive disorder. Brain scans show over activity in the basal ganglia, caudate nucleus, and the orbital frontal regions of OCD brains compared with non-OCD brains.

Inadequate levels of serotonin have been implicated in OCD - numerous studies have shown the OCD symptoms decline in response to SSRI medications that keep more serotonin available to the brain. The strong biological contribution in OCD is further revealed by the fact that there is an increased risk of having OCD if your parents have it.

In general, obsessive compulsive disorder brains have a hard time saying "enough." Instead an OCD brain says "more, more, more." Experts in the area have referred to OCD as brain lock, a brain traffic jam, a brain hiccup, and brain junk mail, among other descriptions of obsessive compulsive disorder.

Repetitions of thoughts and behaviors occur because the mind has imposed a demand for a guarantee. Underlying basically all OCD thought and behaviors is the idea that "I have to be sure." Unfortunately for people guided by this message, life does not provide complete certainty or guarantees.

The good news is that successful treatment with either cognitive-behavioral therapy or medications has been shown to diminish the OCD brain over activity and to increase levels of serotonin. People with OCD can gain control over their symptoms and improve their quality of life.