Madeline Fletcher

ENG 1201

7/9/20

Literature Review

The topic I will be discussing throughout my paper is about obsessive compulsive disorder,

or OCD. My research question is “How is a person with obsessive compulsive disorder different

from someone with "normal" mental and physical functioning?” My main hope is to find

information on what exactly is obsessive compulsive disorder and how does it make someone

different. I want to write about the different types of OCD as well as the different levels of

compulsion. More and more information about OCD is discovered as time goes on and new

technology is discovered. In earlier times, people were unaware of mental illness and would

think people were mentally insane and put them in mental institutions for their whole lives. We

know now through discoveries and research that mentally ill people can be helped through

therapy and medication and many live happy and healthy lives.

Key points I have discovered from reading my sources is the description of what obsessive

compulsive disorder is, the different symptoms, and how it can be treated. Almost all sources

used discusses the negative effects that OCD can have on a human being, and the potential issues

it can cause. In a source from Opposing Viewpoints in the “Gale in Context” database, Lopez-

del-Hoyo states, “The World Health Organization ranks OCD as one of the 10 most

handicapping conditions by lost income and decreased quality of life”. In this source, it talks

about the differences between people with OCD and how they react in a society. It is found that

people with OCD have lower social cognition than the “normal” person. This source is very
credible and has been peer reviewed. The audience is directed at people who are looking for

information on how people with OCD differ from those who do not suffer from the illness.

All of the websites also discuss the different kinds of symptoms that can be present in

OCD. Mayo clinic states that some of the different symptoms are unwanted thoughts, needing to

do things in a pattern or a specific number of times, anxiety, and demanding reassurance. This

source also informs about other information regarding OCD, including different severities,

causes, complications, and preventions. It is an extremely credible and reliable organization and

the audience is anyone who wants to be informed of this mental illness. Another key point that

all of the sources discuss is possible treatments for the disorder. According to the National

Institute of Mental Health, a few of the possible treatments for OCD that are listed would be

medication and different types of therapies or psychotherapies. This website is similar to Mayo

clinic as its main goal is to inform people of the known information of this illness. It is also an

extremely credible and reliable source.

Although many of the sources share similar key points, many of them differ. A big point

that I noticed was different between some of the websites was that some websites compare OCD

with other disorders. These comparisons only take place from the Gale in Context database, as

they are from opposing viewpoints. One of the sources compares it to schizophrenia, while

another compares OCD to addiction, and is also by Jeremy Katz. This document is about

providing awareness of OCD and showing the different ways it can be maintained, which is

mainly through exposure and response prevention. This is very reliable and credible since it
comes from a well-known database and is peer reviewed. The objective of this strategy is to help

the reader to see a difference in a topic they could potentially already know about. The Mayo

Clinic, National Institute of Mental Health, and MedlinePlus websites all take a different

approach from the database and go from a broad to narrow perspective on OCD. They start on

what OCD is and go into the different symptoms and types of ways you can make it better.

MedlinePlus is a website where doctors post different findings on health matters, especially

mental health. These articles are extremely reliable because they come from credible sources,

like certified doctors.

Common misconceptions found when reading the five different sources is that when it

comes to obsessive compulsive disorder, people only think that it is when people to be neat

freaks and wash their hands many times. This is not even the half of it. There are so many

different symptoms and different forms of OCD that I had not even known existed. These

sources provide many answers to my research question and provide a great amount of

information to go off of, such as an MRI of the brain can show a difference between people who

have OCD and people who do not.

 Works Cited:

Katz, Jeremy. "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Can Be Controlled." Behavioral Disorders, edited by

Louise I. Gerdes, Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/EJ3010640221/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=800146a4. Accessed 5 July 2020. Originally published as "Are

You Crazy Enough to Succeed?" Mens Health, vol. 23, July-Aug. 2008, p. 150.

López-del-Hoyo, Yolanda, et al. "Differences between individuals with schizophrenia or obsessive-

compulsive disorder and healthy controls in social cognition and mindfulness skills: A controlled

study." PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 12, 2019, p. e0225608. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A608265166/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=e804ddc3. Accessed 5 July 2020.

“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and

Research, 11 Mar. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obsessive-compulsive-

disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354432.

“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 25 June 2020,

medlineplus.gov/obsessivecompulsivedisorder.html.

“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-

ocd/index.shtml.