Global Marketing

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). With obsessive-compulsive disorder, you may realize that your obsessions aren't reasonable, and you may try to ignore them or stop them. But that only increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts in an effort to ease your stressful feelings.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder often centers around themes, such as a fear of getting contaminated by germs. To ease your contamination fears, you may compulsively wash your hands until they're sore and chapped. Despite your efforts, thoughts of obsessive-compulsive behavior keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior — and a vicious cycle that's characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder

What are the symptoms, characteristics, and overall description of OCD?

OCD obsessions are repeated, persistent and unwanted ideas, thoughts, images or impulses that you have involuntarily and that seem to make no sense. These obsessions typically intrude when you're trying to think of or do other things.

Obsession symptoms and signs may include:

* Fear of being contaminated by shaking hands or by touching objects others have touched

* Doubts that you've locked the door or turned off the stove

* Thoughts that you've hurt someone in a traffic accident

* Intense stress when objects aren't orderly or facing the right way

* Images of hurting your child

* Impulses to shout obscenities in inappropriate situations

* Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands

* Replaying pornographic images in your mind

* Dermatitis because of frequent hand washing

* Skin lesions because of picking at your skin

* Hair loss or bald spots because of hair pulling

What is Obsessive-Compulsive...