There are many mental disorders that affect the behavior of people, making their life and the life of those around them difficult and stressful. The most serious among them include Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, dementia, anxiety, severe depression and eating disorders. These disorders require immediate medical attention by specialists. The effects of the less severe disorders such as OCD are not as distressing compared to the severe ones, but OCD needs to be taken as seriously.
What is OCD? OCD or Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental problem that is actually composed of two different conditions: obsession which is characterized by repeated and unwanted thoughts, ideas, feelings and sensations, and compulsion which is characterized by a very powerful urge to do the same things over and over again.
The most common symptoms of OCD are excessive fears such as fear of contagion by dirt or germs, fear of getting out of control and hurting one’s self or others, fear of losing possessions and not having the things one needs. Other symptoms include disturbing violent images and extremely explicit sexual thoughts and excessive focus on moral ideas or religion, on the idea that all things must be in their proper order and on superstition such as tagging things as lucky or unlucky.
Nobody is immune to OCD. It equally affects everybody equally: women, men and children. No race and ethnic groups are spared. In the US, it is estimated that 1 of 100 children and 1 of 40 adults suffer from the condition. Mental health professionals don’t know the definite cause of OCD. Several factors are considered as likely cause, among them head injury, abnormality in the functioning of the brain, infections and genetic makeup. Sexual or physical abuse is also considered as a possible cause.
A person with OCD needs immediate professional intervention not only because the condition prevents normal and productive life, but also because when left untreated, it can evolve into a more severe mental disorder. In a recent study conducted by certain mental health experts, it was found out that a person with OCD is likely to develop schizophrenia if his or her parents were diagnosed to suffer from OCD.
The treatment of OCD is not easy simply because diagnosis is difficult. It shares symptoms with other mental disorders including depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, eating disorders and several others. These disorders, in fact, can co-exist with OCD.
With millions of Americans, youngsters and adults, suffering from OCD, there are no scarcity mental health clinics in the country. Residents of Texas who suspect a
family member has OCD will not any problem finding a clinic. They can always find a houston ocd center if they live in or near the city. There are several such clinics in the city, which is a good thing because this provides options.
The effects of OCD are not as devastating as the effects of more serious health problems like manic depression or schizophrenia, but it cannot be left untreated. It prevents sufferers from living a normal life. Even worse, it can develop into a more serious mental health problem.