Index
It is a way of thinking in which the person is trapped with a certain idea, which very often addresses the mind.
It is an obsessive-compulsive disorder . The obsession is expressed in various ways such as order, cleanliness, money, body and a relationship, the latter is one of the most frequent reasons for consulting psychologists and psychiatrists.
Causes
There are several theories about the causes that cause obsessive compulsive disorder, among the main theories, are the following:
- Biological : It can be the result of some changes in the natural chemistry of the body or brain functions.
- Genetic: It may be related to a genetic component, although the genes that cause it have not yet been identified.
- The environment: It has been suggested that some environmental factors can directly affect, such as infections, but it lacks conclusive research.
characteristics
Some people have ideas that spin in their head and in which they can not stop thinking, they remain “anchored” in thought.
This manifests itself in a difficulty of taking action and retaking a new idea, negatively impacting people’s daily lives.
It is possible that the individual can not make a decision about something that is deteriorating their daily life.
You can also obsess and concentrate on a person a material object or a habit, to the point of idealizing or magnifying concentrating all attention on it.
The human being should not be guided in life by the heart and emotions, rather than by the head or vice versa, you need a balance between the two: reason and emotion.
In the person who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, his mind dominates all his actions, it is normal to be afraid to feel pain, sadness, anger, but always having control and acting safely when making decisions in daily life.
The fear of being wrong or risking, paralyzes and prevents action when necessary, so you must have a great control over things.
On the other hand, it is also possible that an excess of rationality leads the individual to the opposite extreme, with the occurrence of episodes of confusion and lack of control, as an escape valve to the explosion of the obsessions that bind him.
In some people, obsession generates a lot of anxiety and they get to suffer from an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder becomes a disturbance of anxiety, which is characterized by some annoying, permanent and recurrent thoughts, which can produce fear, concern or worry.
The presence of repetitive behaviors, which are called compulsions or “rituals”, that are provoked to reduce high levels of anxiety.
Consequences of obsessions
- At the somatic level: Symptoms occur such as headaches, insomnia , contractures, digestive problems, muscle pain due to stiffness or tension.
- At the psychic level: Conflicts are presented to identify emotions, problems to achieve concentration, to memorize and rigidity of thought, among others.
- At the level of daily life: The individual lets pass opportunities, postpones their tasks, does not make decisions for doubts, there are no significant changes in life and there is a stagnation, daily discomforts, a feeling of being trapped in a stage of the life and not being able to leave.
Risk factor’s
The risk factors that trigger the occurrences of obsessive-compulsive disorder are the following:
- Family-type background: The fact of coming from families whose parents or relatives have presented the disorder, increases the risk of developing this disease.
- Occurrence of stressful events in life: If there have been incidents that have been traumatic or stressful for the individual, the risk may increase. These reactions can trigger the protocols, thoughts and emotional distress characteristic of this disorder.
- Other disorders related to mental health: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is usually related to other mental health disorders, such as depression , tic disorders, anxiety disorder or substance abuse.
symptom
People who experience this disorder have very unpleasant intrusive thoughts, which invade involuntarily causing a high level of discomfort and anxiety.
These invasive thoughts provoke high levels of anxiety and the person is forced to perform some actions or rituals that free him from those thoughts.
By doing that, you may experience a sense of temporary tranquility.
But soon, this ritual or that demonstration will not be enough, and the need reappears accompanied by a state of anguish, so that the person is compelled to have to repeat these actions repeatedly.
This induces a true chaos in daily activities, paralyzing them because the person must dedicate time to perform these procedures several times a day.
Obsessions sometimes substitute satisfactory and useful behaviors, and may be highly disorganized by global acts.
Because obsessions can distract the person who suffers, they are often inefficient when performing cognitive tasks that need greater concentration, such as performing numerical operations or reading.
Diagnosis
Depending on the characteristics, there are different diagnostic criteria:
The fundamental characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorder are: recurrent obsessions accompanied by compulsive acts (criterion A).
So severe that they can cause the individual to lose time (more than one hour a day) or cause significant distress or significant harm (Criterion C).
And while the disorder lasts, at some point, the person recognizes that their obsessions or compulsions are irrational and very excessive (Criterion B).
If an Axis I disorder is present, the content of these obsessions is not limited to it (Criterion D).
The disorder is not associated with the physiological effects of a substance directly such as drugs or medications or a pathology (Criterion E).
The symptoms of obsessions are ideas, impulses or insistent, repeated and unwanted thoughts that are experienced and that give rise to high levels of anxiety or despair.
The characteristics of intrusive thoughts of obsessions are in conflict with the ideals of the individual (dystonic ego).
That is to say, that the individual has the feeling that the issue of obsession is strange to him, can not control him and does not resemble the kind of thinking he wants and expects to have.
On the other hand, the individual has the ability to recognize that obsessions are produced in the mind and are not imposed from the outside.
The individual ignores all thoughts or gets rid of them, but obsessions invade him when he tries to think or do other things.
Among the steps that are followed for the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder can be mentioned:
- A physical examination should be performed to rule out the existence of other pathologies that would be causing the symptoms and detect any related complication.
- Laboratory tests that include, in addition to a complete blood count , a check on the function of the thyroid and tests to detect the use of alcohol and drugs.
- A psychological evaluation that involves analyzing thoughts, feelings, symptoms and behavior patterns. As well as an evaluation with family and friends.
Types of obsessions
Pollution Obsessions:
These obsessions can cause fear or a feeling of repulsion when feeling or being very close to elements or circumstances that could cause infection or damage to the individual or any other.
In general, the situations that cause the sensations are: Dirt, the fear of contagion of a virus or bacteria and bodily secretions.
Products with toxic characteristics, household cleaners or medicines that, due to their obsession, may poison or poison you, touch insects or animals.
As well as visiting places or touching objects that may have been touched by sick or “contaminated” people, (such as the doorknob, public toilets, hospitals, among others) and excessive terror to contract a disease.
Accumulation of accumulation:
It is the need to accumulate or collect any type of objects that are deteriorated or are useless, without any economic or sentimental value, with the conviction that someday they might need them and they will be anguished if they do not keep them.
Obsessions of order:
Care in placing things in a precise way with symmetry.
Perform things very accurately and in the correct disposition.
Locate the objects so that they are always neatly arranged, avoiding errors or improvisations in the execution of any action.
Objection with religious, moral or extremely conscientious themes, that is, excessive fear and a constant concern to not comply with any religious or moral rule, such as impure thoughts.
Also perpetrate acts contrary to the religious belief patterns that he professes, not to proceed in a morally correct way or with rectitude, there is a constant repetition of images or religious thoughts.
Impulsive impulsive obsessions:
The individual presents panic by acting impetuously involuntarily, thus causing damage to himself or others.
Pushing or injuring someone, hurting oneself involuntarily or committing suicide, saying obscenities, inappropriate words to other people, ridicule or perpetrating a crime.
There are also violent, bellicose and repulsive images in the mind that cause harm to other people.
Sexual obsessions:
There are ideas of aggressive sexual behavior towards others.
They execute sexual damages to another person, attack or inadvertently rape another person, harm their own children or other children.
I am suspicious of assuming a different sexual orientation or a change of sex.
Other obsessions:
Need to remember certain things such as license plate numbers, names, slogans, words, images of the past.
Restlessness for making mistakes or saying something wrong, saying something wrong or getting to omit some detail, an excessive concern about losing objects.
To take into account excessively certain sounds and that these noises generate a great displeasure as the ticking of a clock, loud noises, timbres.
Persistently repeat some words or melodies.
Fears or some kind of superstition, such as avoiding expressing oneself with certain words, or not wearing clothes of certain colors for fear of inducing damage.
Excessive concern for the numbers that attract or not luck and ruminate continuously in a strict manner.
The individual who suffers from obsessions usually tries to ignore , eliminate every impulse or obsessive thought or cancel them with another type of thought or actions.
Adults who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorders eventually recognize that their obsessions or compulsions are excessive or irrational.
This does not apply to children, because they do not have sufficient discernment to make this type of judgment.
Treatment
In most cases, obsessive-compulsive disorder begins when the person is an infant.
So we can observe whims, perfectionism or protocols in young children.
If it is not treated in time, its development can become chronic, increasing obsessive and compulsive behaviors over time.
In general, these increases are associated with events that have been stressful and that occur in daily life.
In spite of how serious this problem can be and the situations it generates, few people with this obsessive-compulsive disorder seek treatment.
There are 2 types of treatments that over time have proven to be very effective in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorders: as are cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacological treatment.
Pharmacotherapy:
This treatment refers to the prescription of antidepressants , such as tricyclics or those inhibitors of serotonin reuptake:
Certain psychiatric medications can be used to control the obsessions and compulsions of obsessive-compulsive disorder such as:
- Clomipramine (Anafranil): indicated for adults and children over 10 years.
- Fluoxetine (Prozac): indicated for adults and children over 7 years.
- Fluvoxamine: indicated for adults and children over 8 years.
- Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva): indicated for adults.
- Sertraline (Zoloft): indicated for adults and children over 6 years.
Cognitive-behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder:
In addition to recommending pharmacological treatment, cognitive behavioral treatment is indicated.
Which is compatible with pharmacological treatment and have been shown to provide similar or superior efficacy and with a lower rate of relapse.
The cognitive-behavioral treatment consists of exposing the feared (be it thought or reality) and at the same time prohibit carrying out neutralizing behaviors or rituals, in this way the patient is exposed to feel the anxiety.
The admission of this anxiety that is normally felt is a step in the healing process of the treatment.
Despite the efficacy that has been shown, this treatment has some drawbacks: relapses may occur, because patients do not complete the treatment because the method is very hard for the patient and very demanding for the therapist.
This cognitive behavioral therapy can also propose a therapy of acceptance and commitment, where changes are proposed in some aspects of the treatment that have made the number of defections less.
Since the patient’s objective is not to exclude anxiety, but to achieve psychological flexibility, so that anxiety can not interfere in his life, nor in the objectives, interests and values.
The effects obtained with the combination of both treatments have been evaluated:
Pharmacological and cognitive behavioral: they provide better results than each treatment separately and studies have shown that there is no difference.
