WHAT IS OCD?
Mindy Lawrence
When Lady Macbeth washes her hands over and over again in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, she is exhibiting a sign of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. She repeats an excessive act to lessen her stress
According to the article “Common Obsessions and Compulsions Among People With OCD” on the website VeryWellMind, This is a list of some of the physical actions suffers exhibit:
Repeatedly checking to make sure that doors and windows are locked or that appliances are turned off; some individuals with OCD have to check their neighborhood to make sure they have not hit someone with their car or assaulted someone
Excessive cleaning of the house, clothes, and/or body
Counting objects, letters, words, or actions
Doing routine activities repeatedly, like standing up or going up and downstairs
Requesting or demanding reassurance from family members or health care providers, such as "My hands should be clean now, right?"
Repeating phrases or sequences of words either out loud or mentally
Rearranging objects to ensure a specific order and/or symmetry
Doing things in multiples; for instance, turning the light on and off five times because five is a "good" number.
Obsessions can include:
Fear of losing control of oneself
Fear of germs
Fear of losing or forgetting something important
Worrying about how straight or even things are
There are treatments for OCD. Some people benefit from behavior therapy or from medications like Zoloft.
LINKS
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, National Institute of Mental Health,
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Mayo Clinic
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?Psychiatry
Common Obsessions and Compulsions Among People With OCD, VeryWellMind
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-common-obsessive-behaviors-2510679
When it’s Not Just OCD, Everyday Health, Nancie George
https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/when-its-not-just-ocd/
Managing Stress When you Have OCD, VeryWellMind, Owen Kelly, PhD
https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-ocd-and-stress-2510559
