Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
What you should know.
What to know if you think you have OCD
Etiology- It isn’t fully understood, but change in bodies natural chemistry, or brain functions genetic component specific genes have to be identified
Symptoms- You keep thinking about certain things over and over it could be from washing your hands because you think you have germs on them to sexual thoughts that you can't stop playing.
Do the same rituals over and over such as washing hands, locking and unlocking doors, counting, keeping unneeded items, or repeating the same steps again and again. You can't control them no matter what you try doing.
Treatment- Medications, psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective helps you retrain your thought patterns and routines so you are no longer repeating the same things.
Medication- Anafranil, Luvox,Prozac,Paxil,Pexeva, and Zoloft
Many anti-depressants and other psychiatric medications or market also may be used to treat OCD (Off Label)
Diagnosis- Physical exam, Lab tests, and psychological evaluation.
You have obsessive thoughts and you can’t control something that you used to be able to.
Prognosis- Age of onset varies between men and women; men experience childhood onset between ages of 6- 15; women typically experience adult onset at ages 20- 30. ⅔ of adults had symptoms before age of 15 and 80% had symptoms of depression.