Obsessive-Compulsive

Disorder (OCD)
Ashley Carozza
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? (Overview)

● Commonly referred to as OCD, obsessive-compulsive

disorder is a common and long-lasting disorder where a
person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts
(obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions) that they
feel the urge and desire to to repeat over and over.
Symptoms
● Examples of obsession signs and symptoms include:
○ Fear of being contaminated by touching objects others have touched
○ Doubts that you've locked the door or turned off the stove
○ Intense stress when objects aren't orderly or facing a certain way
○ Images of driving your car into a crowd of people
○ Thoughts about shouting inappropriate things or acting inappropriately in public
○ Unpleasant sexual images
○ Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands

● Examples of compulsive signs, symptoms and behaviors are:

○ Hand-washing until your skin becomes raw
○ Checking doors repeatedly to make sure they're locked
○ Checking the stove repeatedly to make sure it's off
○ Counting in certain patterns
○ Silently repeating a prayer, word or phrase
○ Arranging your canned goods to face the same way
OCD Statistics (within about the past 20 years)
How Common?
- Approximately 2.3% of the population has OCD, which is about 1 in 40 adults and 1 in 100 children in the U.S. (Anxiety and Depression
Association of America)
- The prevalence of OCD in a 12-month period is higher in females (1.8%) than males (0.5%). (Harvard, 2007)
- One study in 1992 found that nearly two-thirds of people with OCD had major symptoms before the age of 25. (Stanford Medicine)
- In families with a history of OCD, there’s a 25% chance that another immediate family member will develop symptoms. (American Journal of
Medical Genetics, 2005)

How severe?
- Half of adults with OCD (50.6%) had serious impairment as of 2001-2003.
- One-third of adults with OCD (34.8%) had moderate impairment as of 2001-2003.
- Only 15% of adults with OCD had mild impairment as of 2001-2003.
(Harvard Medical School, 2007)

At what age?
- The average age of onset of OCD is 19.5 years old. (Molecular Psychiatry, 2008)
- Males make up the majority of very early-onset cases. Almost a quarter of males have onsets before age 10. Most females are diagnosed with OCD
during adolescence (after age 10). (Molecular Psychiatry, 2008)
- People with early age of onset have more severe symptoms of OCD and higher rates of ADHD and bipolar disorder. ( Psychological Medicine, 2014)
Known causes

The cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder isn't fully understood. Main theories include:

● Biology. OCD may be a result of changes in your body's own natural chemistry or
brain functions.
● Genetics. OCD may have a genetic component, but specific genes have yet to be
identified.
● Learning. Obsessive fears and compulsive behaviors can be learned from watching
family members or gradually learned over time.
Treatments or Therapies used to cure or alleviate the symptoms of
disorder
● OCD is typically treated with medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. Although most
patients with OCD respond to treatment, some patients continue to experience symptoms.
● Sometimes people with OCD also have other mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and body
dysmorphic disorder, a disorder in which someone mistakenly believes that a part of their body is abnormal.
It is important to consider these other disorders when making decisions about treatment.
● Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs), which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are used
to help reduce OCD symptoms.
○ SRIs often require higher daily doses in the treatment of OCD than of depression and may take 8 to 12
weeks to start working, but some patients experience more rapid improvement.
● If symptoms do not improve with these types of medications, research shows that some patients may respond
well to an antipsychotic medication. Although research shows that an antipsychotic medication may help
manage symptoms for people who have both OCD and a tic disorder, research on the effectiveness of
antipsychotics to treat OCD is mixed.
Sources list

● National Institute of Mental Health

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd

● Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/symp
toms-causes/syc-20354432

● Single Care https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/ocd-statistics/