When Unwanted Thoughts Take Over - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.pdf

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When Unwanted Thoughts Take Over: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
When Unwanted Thoughts Take Over:
Obsessive-Compulsive
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES • National Institutes of Health
Disorder
National Institute of Mental Health
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National Institute of Mental Health
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Anxiety Disorders
People with anxiety disorders feel extremely fearful and unsure.
Most people feel anxious about something for a short time now and
again, but people with anxiety disorders feel this way most of the time.
Their fears and worries make it hard for them to do everyday tasks.
About 18% of American adults have anxiety disorders. Children also
may have them.
Treatment is available for people with anxiety disorders. Researchers
are also looking for new treatments that will help relieve symptoms.
This booklet is about one kind of anxiety disorder called obsessive-
compulsive disorder, or OCD. For information about other kinds
of anxiety disorders, please see the end of this booklet.
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Everyone double-checks things sometimes—for example,
checking the stove before leaving the house, to make sure
it’s turned off. But people with OCD feel the need to
check things over and over, or have certain thoughts or
perform routines and rituals over and over. The thoughts
and rituals of OCD cause distress and get in the way of
daily life.
The repeated, upsetting thoughts of OCD are called
obsessions.To try to control them, people with OCD
repeat rituals or behaviors, which are called compulsions.
People with OCD can’t control these thoughts and rituals.
Examples of obsessions are fear of germs, of being hurt
or of hurting others, and troubling religious or sexual
thoughts. Examples of compulsions are repeatedly
counting things, cleaning things, washing the body or
parts of it, or putting things in a certain order, when these
actions are not needed, and checking things over and over.
People with OCD have these thoughts and do these rituals
for at least an hour on most days, often longer.The reason
OCD gets in the way of their lives is that they can’t stop
the thoughts or rituals, so they sometimes miss school,
work, or meetings with friends, for example.
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What are the symptoms of OCD?
People with OCD:
• have repeated thoughts or images about many
different things, such as fear of germs, dirt, or intruders;
violence; hurting loved ones; sexual acts; conflicts with
religious beliefs; or being overly neat.
• do the same rituals over and over such as washing hands,
locking and unlocking doors, counting, keeping unneeded
items, or repeating the same steps again and again.
• have unwanted thoughts and behaviors they can’t
control.
• don’t get pleasure from the behaviors or rituals,
but get brief relief from the anxiety the thoughts cause.
• spend at least an hour a day on the thoughts and
rituals, which cause distress and get in the way of
daily life.
OBSESSIVE - COMPULSIVE DISORDER
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