Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ( OCD )

• Worrying constantly about catching a deadly disease and/or that you will contaminate others with your germs.
• Fears about contamination with environmental toxins, such as lead or radioactivity.
• An intense fear that something horrible will happen to a loved one.
• Profound worry that you will do something extremely embarrassing, like screaming out an obscenity at a funeral.
• Believing you may hit someone with your car or injure someone unknowingly.
• Aggressive or disturbing ideas, such as thoughts of murdering your partner or child.
• Disturbing sexual and/or religious imagery that might include sexual assault or inappropriate sexual acts.
• A fear that you might forget or lose something.
• A strong need to reorder things until they feel “just right.”
• A fear of harming inanimate objects.

Some individuals with OCD also have a tic disorder. Motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements, such as eye blinking and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Common vocal tics include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds.

Symptoms may come and go, ease over time, or worsen. People with OCD may try to help themselves by avoiding situations that trigger their obsessions, or they may use alcohol or drugs to calm themselves. Although most adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing doesn’t make sense, some adults and most children may not realize that their behavior is out of the ordinary. Parents or teachers typically recognize OCD symptoms in children.

Severity Of OCD

OCD usually begins in the teen or young adult years. Symptoms usually begin gradually and tend to vary in severity throughout life. Symptoms generally worsen when you experience greater stress. OCD, usually considered a lifelong disorder, can have mild to moderate symptoms or be so severe and time-consuming that it becomes disabling.

Risk factors of OCD

Factors that may increase the risk of developing or triggering obsessive-compulsive disorder include:

• Family history. Having parents or other family members with the disorder can increase your risk of developing OCD.
• Stressful life events. If you’ve experienced traumatic or stressful events, your risk may increase. This reaction may, for some reason, trigger the intrusive thoughts, rituals and emotional distress characteristic of OCD.
• Other mental health disorders. OCD may be related to other mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse or tic disorders.

Complications of OCD

Problems resulting from OCD may include, among others:

• Health issues, such as contact dermatitis from frequent hand-washing
• Inability to attend work, school or social activities
• Troubled relationships
• Overall poor quality of life
• Suicidal thoughts and behavior

Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

There’s a difference between being a perfectionist — someone who requires flawless results or performance, for example — and having OCD. OCD thoughts aren’t simply excessive worries about real problems in your life or liking to have things clean or arranged in a specific way.

If your obsessions and compulsions are affecting your quality of life, see a specialist at Welling Homeopathy Clinic or chat with our online adviser.

See a doctor at Welling Clinics for a detailed evaluation and assessment to know if the treatment for OCD is required for you. Our doctors are well trained with various modalities of OCD treatment and can advise the best for you. Visit us to know more about our specially formulated homeopathy treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).