Obsessive compulsive disorder

... Rosemary Marzouk Prof. Haghighi Psychology 101 December 24, 2006 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) means that the person has illogical and irresistible thoughts or impulses (Obsessions) that they consider absurd and that they attempt to resist. They are acted out physically as a way to reduce the anxiety associated with the obsessions (compulsions). There is usually a feeling that something bad will happen if they do not act upon the obsessions (catch a disease, therefore they wash their hands very frequently and ritualistically). The essential feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder is obsessional thoughts or compulsive acts that are recurrent. Obsessional thoughts are ideas, images or impulses that enter the individual's mind again and again. They are regularly distressing (because they are violent or obscene, or because they are perceived as senseless) and the sufferer often tries, unsuccessfully, to resist them. They are, however, recognized as the individual's own thoughts, even though they are involuntary

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