Obssesive Compulsive Disorder
Coming this summer: OCD weekend camp for teens
Up to 1 out of 50 adults in the U.S. currently has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or about 3 million people; twice that many have had it at some point in their lives. Fortunately, advances in science have resulted in some very effective treatments for OCD that can help people lead more fulfilling lives. A type of therapy called Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, has been found effective to treat OCD. In addition to ERP, certain techniques from Cognitive Behavior Therapy can also be useful.
People with OCD experience uncontrollable obsessions and compulsions (usually both, but sometimes one or the other) which they realize are excessive or unreasonable. Obsessions are recurring thoughts or impulses that are intrusive/inappropriate and cause the person anxiety. For example, a person with OCD might have obsessions about contamination or becoming ill, and fear that they will come into contact with germs, dirt, or objects that seem unclean. Obsessions can occur over a range of topics; people with OCD might have obsessions about checking things ("I may have left the gas on") or impulses ("I am going to injure my child"). Sometimes the obsessions are of a violent or sexual nature.
Compulsions are the repetitive behaviors, or "rituals", performed by someone with OCD. Compulsions, or rituals, provide temporary relief from the anxiety caused by obsessive thoughts. They may or may not be directly related to the obsessive thought; for instance, someone who has the urge to yell 'danger' in a crowded place might count ceiling tiles to try and control the thought. The most common compulsions involve washing repetitively or checking (for example, going back to the house many times to make sure the doors are locked). Other compulsions include counting, repeating, hoarding (being unable to throw away useless objects), and endlessly rearranging objects to keep them in precise alignment. Cognitive compulsions, such as mentally repeating phrases, making mental lists, or visualizing certain images are also common.
Onset of OCD is usually gradual and most often begins in adolescence or early adulthood. Unlike adults, children with OCD do not realize that their obsessions and compulsions, which are most often of the washing, checking, and ordering variety, are excessive.