The silent Pandemic [2/3]

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This is a three-part series to increase and provide correct information about the five most commonly misunderstood mental health disorders. If you haven’t read part one of this series click the link below.

 https://theanatomyofthinking.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-silent-pandemic-part-15.html

This whole series is in collaboration with mood diet. mood diet is an up and coming psychology-based initiative which aims at creating awareness about psychology and help individual experience conscious living.


This is the most commonly misunderstood and misused disorder where people think that being a perfectionist means that they have this disorder. Yup, you guessed it right it is OCD. This particular disorder has been misunderstood since the 6th and 7th century where it was called blasphemous thought to being called scrupulosity in the 14th and 15 century and the most ridiculous one in 1838 where it was called monomania and partial insanity. Well, the pattern continues. Our ancestors were negligent due to the lack of resources and researches, but it will be irresponsible of us to be the same since we have what they lacked, resource and research. And yet we still misconceive it to cleaning the house and washing hands before a meal, guys that’s just basic hygiene.

So, I am going to bust 3 of the most common myths relating to this particular disorder.

MYTH NO.1- Repetitive of ritualistic behavior is OCD.


Repetitive or ritualistic behavior can be called compulsive behavior, but OCD in itself is way more than just compulsive behavior is darker than just washing your hands.

As the name Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior suggests, the two main important components of OCD are obsessive thought that something bizarre might happen to them if they do not do something and as a result a compulsive behavioral pattern is formed so as to avoid the perceived threat. People affected have little or no control over their obsessive thought and compulsive behavior which often tends to be time-consuming, interfere with work, school or social life to the point of causing significant distress. This diagnostic criterion is what separates people who have OCD or just a bit more meticulous hygiene obsessed than normal.

** Charlie is a 20-year-old female who thinks that if she steps on a crack in the floor, her mother's back would be broken. This particular relationship of cracks on floors and her mother's back is from a child poem which states “step on a crack break your mother’s back”. And god forbid if she steps on a crack, she will punish herself by pulling her hair and slapping herself 7 times. **

MYTH NO. 2 – The main symptom of OCD is excessive hand washing and cleaning.


Although washing hands is the most common representation of OCD in the popular culture, obsessions and compulsions can take many different forms. Obsession can take any form from manifesting as fears of contamination, worries about harming others, or preoccupation with numbers, patterns, morality, and even sexual identity. And the compulsions can range from excessive cleaning, the fastidious arrangement of items to walking in a particular pattern, and reciting a particular set of numbers at a given time.

The lines get often blurred when it comes to a perfectionist though. The main difference between a perfectionist and a person suffering from OCD is that a perfectionist does not have bizarre correlation of their activities with a particular mishappening which people with OCD have. In simple words, we can say “everyone with OCD are perfectionists, but not everyone who are perfectionist have OCD”.

** Rajiv is a 43-year-old male who washes his hand every 5 minutes because according to him, if he doesn’t wash his hands, he will kill someone very close to him and their blood will stain their hands forever and ever. ** scary right? So never ever say that you have OCD just because you wash your hands as a basic hygiene routine.

MYTH NO. 3 – Individuals with OCD don’t understand that they are acting irrationally.


Many individuals with OCD understand their relationship between obsession and compulsions quite well. Being unable to avoid these thoughts and actions despite understanding their nature is what make OCD quite distressing.

What makes them different from us?

Most of us also have such bizarre thoughts popping into our heads all the time. so does it mean that we have OCD? The answer is a big fat NO.

I agree we all have intrusive thoughts, but we leave them behind cheerfully to watch some funny cat videos, but a person with OCD will pick each of these intrusive thoughts till the time they develop a new set of ritual 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.

If you want to get a peek into a day of a person with OCD click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD-xPiwtyHA

So what causes OCD?

Well, we don’t actually know what exactly causes OCD, but we do have some clues:


Neurobiological causes:

Well some scientist believe that our brain is hardwired to perform a certain action. Researchers suggest three parts namely Orbitofrontal cortex, Caudate nucleus and Cingulate gyrus to be responsible to act out such actions.

Low levels of serotonin:

Some researchers have also suggested that OCD is caused due to low levels of serotonin which is responsible for aggression, impulse control, sleep, appetite, body temperature, and pain.

Treatments for OCD

The treatment of OCD just like other psychological disorder can be put in two categories psychiatry treatment and psychotherapy:

Psychiatry treatment:

-        serotonin pills are given to increase the level of neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain as well as limiting its reabsorption by brain tissue. 

-        In some extreme cases electroconvulsive therapy ECT is also given, but this is not a routine treatment.

Psychotherapy:

-        Behavior therapy where the compulsive behavior is avoided using desensitization according to the principles of reciprocal inhibition.

-        Many existentialists thrive to remove the obsessive thoughts itself from the brain.


What can I do to help?

The first and foremost thing that we need to stop is cleaning our room after a month and saying “I am such an OCD you know!” well guys OCD is not an adjective to use, it is a very debilitating disorder which can get very dark. So before posting a picture of your clean table or room and captioning it “OCD in its peak” remember that there is someone out there who actually has OCD and feel as if they are the only one who is having these dark thoughts. It is our responsibility to be there for them, listen to them and dare not mock or criticize them of their rituals rather motivate them to go see a psychologist and help them during the course.

Sometimes just being there is helpful……



Reference

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