[Wendy]

This was copied from the original thread: Introduction to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Introduction to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry; by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety; or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions. If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, you probably recognize that your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are irrational - but even so, you feel unable to resist them and break free. It's as though your brain is simply locked on a particular thought or urge.

Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions.

Obsessions are involuntary, seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again in your mind. Your don't want to have these ideas but you cannot stop them; unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts are often disturbing and distracting to the individual. Compulsions, however, are behaviors or rituals that you feel driven to act out again and again. Usually, compulsions are performed in an attempt to make obsessions go away. So, if you're afraid that you have a large amount of germs on your hands, you may develop rituals that force you to wash your hands over twenty times purely because of the obsessive fear of illness. These behaviors often can get into the way of relationships, jobs, responsibilities and other tasks that can severely impact the individual's life negatively.

Most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder fall into one of the following categories:

• Washers are afraid of contamination. they usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions.
• Checkers repeatedly check things that they associate with harm or danger
• Doubters / Sinners are afraid that if everything isn't perfect or done correctly, something terrible will happen.
• Counters / arrangers are obsessed with order and symmetry. They may have severe superstitions about numbers, colors, or arrangements.
• Hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away - hoarding things they don't need or use.
• Intrusive Thoughts / Ruminations are sufferers with obsessional thoughts that are repetitive, disturbing or horrific.

Who Is At Risk?

For most of the people that fall into obsessive-compulsive disorder, it starts during childhood or the teen years; prominently people are diagnosed with this disorder by the age of nineteen. Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder may come and go, as well as the severity. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder affects around 2.2 million American adults, striking men and women in roughly equal numbers - so, you're no alone. The people who are at risk most likely have attributes related to:

Age can play a huge role, as previously stated.

Genetics are also a huge role. Fifty percent of your risk for developing obsessive-compulsive disorder is determined by your genes. As such, having family members with obsessive-compulsive disorder is a risk factor for developing the disease. The closer that these individuals are to your immediate family, the greater the risk of developing it.

Life Events, especially stressful ones - particularly those which are traumatic in nature and which occurred early on in life.

Drug Use, prominently illicit drugs, are a risk factor for developing obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug use can create a vulnerability for developing it by causing neurotransmitter changes in the brain, as well as indirectly by creating additional stress through conflict with parents, difficulty maintaining employment, and trouble with the law.

Social status; this includes marital status, employment status and socioeconomic status. The negatives in this (i.e. unmarried, unemployed, and a lower socioeconomic status) can all contribute to obsessive symptoms.

Relation to Depersonalization/Derealization.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder comes in many shapes and sizes, so it's no surprise that it could further the detached perspective. The most prominent of the obsessive-compulsive categories that could further the dissociation would be Rumination and Intrusive Thoughts. A lot of the time, this detached perspective brings with it delusions, whether it be from wondering if the entire world is fake or thinking that you, yourself, are fake - there are thoughts that come with the perspective that could be classified as intrusive thoughts. It's safe to assume that, with this dissociative perspective, it will naturally be difficult to allow your mind to free itself from the attention of your symptoms,which can cause you to ruminate in your thoughts.

"The trouble with rumination is at least twofold. As you ruminate, you deepen the grooves in the brain, intensifying levels of anxiety and depression. And your problems remain unsolved, and are perhaps even exacerbated by the failure to move on them."

So, the relation between obsessive-compulsive disorder and dissociation is more based on the rumination in one's symptoms or intrusive thoughts. It is almost key to allow your mind to free itself from the begging attention of these intrusive thoughts and the rumination that follows, so that the perspective does not have any attention to strengthen itself on. There are a lot of therapies that can help obsessive-compulsive disorder; if you feel that you are suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, it's almost imperative that you understand the relation between it and dissociation, then work towards silencing the OCD to give your mind room for positivity.

Sources

The Different Types of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Therapy for Anxiety Disorders.
Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders.
Rumination - Overcoming It.
NIMH, OCD
OCD Risk Factors.