Obsessive compulsive disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Obsessive compulsive disorder - probe ExampleObsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychological experience considered an Axis 1 amiable illness in the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association APA, 1994). According to the DSM OCD is defined as either a somebody being obsessed with a topic or concept or compelled to think particular thoughts or to undertake particular actions. Obsessions can be defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, images of impulses that be experience during the OCD experience, and these are perceived as being intrusive and inappropriate and generally defecate distress and or anxiety to the person experiencing them (March, 2006 Salkovskis et al., 2000 Wroe & Salkovskis, 2000).Common distressing thoughts, actions or verbalizations whitethorn be sexual in genius (10%), moral/religious/blasphemous (11%), aggressive (29%), contamination-disease (46%), or to do with symmetry and sequence (27%) (Matthews, Reynolds, & Derisley, 2006). These excessive tho ughts, impulses and images are not just over stressing about day-to-day life, for as the person tries to suppress or stop much(prenominal) thoughts, impulses or images or attempts to supplement them with other thoughts, images or actions, they cannot suppress or dispel their experience. ... nuously checking that a door is locked, or repetitive mental acts, such as praying or counting, results in the person whim driven to undertake the behavior of thought according to a rigid set of rules (Rosack, 2004). The behaviors and mental acts stop or reduce the anxiety and distress that is experienced, alternatively, the thoughts and behaviors may inhibit a dreaded event from occurring. Obsessions and compulsions cause significant distress, can take up much of the persons time during the day, and can dramatically interfere with their public routine in everyday life, such as inhibiting them from carrying out their work role or attention to academic studies (Simonds, Thorpe, & Elliott, 20 00). Experiences also negatively affect their ability to engage in social activities or to put one over fulfilling relationships. Additionally, if another Axis 1 mental illness is present then the content of the obsessions and or compulsions may not be restricted to it for example, being preoccupied with food when an eating disorder is also present. Hollander, Cohen and stein (2005) categorises one type of OCD experiences as repetitive behaviors that are driven by pleasure or arousal, such as pathological gambling, as the act of gambling involves risk and reward. In a study by Anholt and colleagues (2004) a comparison of the dysfunctional beliefs of those with diagnosed OCD and participants diagnosed as pathological gamblers or panic disorder, and a group of customary controls. Beliefs were measured using the Obsessive-Compulsive Beliefs Questionnaire-87 (OBQ-87). It was anticipated that the pathological gamblers would have similar cognitions to the OCD group and have extravagan tly levels of OCD symptoms. The results showed that the OCD group and the gambling group had similar OBQ-87 scores