What is OCD?
We all wonder at times if we locked the door or unplugged the iron. For those with OCD, these thoughts become obsessions.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a condition in which a person repeatedly does and thinks irrationally.
These behaviors and thoughts exhibited by the person greatly affect their daily life and relationships with people.
It also causes the individual to not be able to lead an orderly life. This is quite the opposite, especially in obsessive compulsions; being obsessed with order and creating disorder.
Obsessive compulsive personality disorder occurs when two basic psychological drives, obsession and compulsion, come together.
Obsession - Compulsion
Obsession can be defined as thoughts, ideas, and impulses that a person cannot get out of their mind. These develop against the person’s will. In many of my clients, the person is aware of the irrationality of these thoughts, but still cannot get them out of their mind and experiences extreme restlessness and stress (anxiety) feelings.
Compulsion is a repetitive, repetitive behavior or mental action that a person performs in order to relax themselves in order to reduce the restlessness and stress feelings they acquired during the obsession phase.
For example: Fear of dirt or germs (obsession) and repeated washing, showering, or washing their hands (compulsion)
OCD Symptoms
As with many psychological disorders, The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder can actually vary depending on the environment, culture and family structure in which the person grew up.
In my opinion, it would be more accurate to examine obsession symptoms and compulsion symptoms separately.
We can examine these symptoms under separate headings:
Obsession Symptoms
- Constant fear of getting dirty.
- An obsession with symmetry.
- Excessive suspicion, doubt and distrust of even the simplest events that happen around you.
- Separation and loneliness due to fear of behaving badly when you are with people.
- Constantly washing your hands and changing your clothes or the things you wear due to an obsession with cleanliness or an extreme fear of germs.
- Thinking that loved ones will be harmed and that you will lose them for no reason, and the resulting extreme anxiety and stress.
Compulsion Symptoms
- A desire to organize objects around him/herself in an absurd manner.
- Avoiding shaking hands and generally touching things that other people touch.
- A desire to constantly verify whether things that should be closed, such as door locks, stoves, ovens, phone locks or bag zippers, are closed.
- A desire to organize objects at home or sometimes objects he/she sees outside into a certain order and shape.
- Constantly repeating certain words, prayers or lines in order to relax himself/herself.
- A desire to do things in a certain order or number. When this order in his/her mind is disrupted, he/she has great difficulty doing the remaining tasks.
If you are complaining about many of these symptoms, you can take the first step by getting psychotherapy.