OCD Characteristics Flashcards
(4 cards)
What is OCD?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterised by obsessions (recurring and intrusive thoughts, images or impulses) and compulsions (repetitive behaviours or mental acts performed to deal with the continuous invasive thought processes).
Behavioural Characteristics
The main behavioural component of OCD centres on compulsive behaviour. Compulsions are repetitive in nature and sufferers will often feel compelled to repeat a behaviour multiple times. They are used to manage or reduce anxiety, e.g., repetitive hand washing is caused by an excessive fear of germs and bacteria, and is therefore a direct response to the obsession. However, this anxiety-reducing means is temporary, causing it to become a repetitive, ritualistic act.
OCD is also characterised by avoidance as sufferers may attempt to reduce their anxiety by keeping away from situations/stimuli that trigger their obsessions, .e.g, sufferers who wash compulsively due to their excessive fear of germs may do this to avoid coming into contact with them.
Such compulsions and avoidance combined inhibit the sufferer from living an ordinary daily life, often interfering with work, relationships, and personal responsibilities.
Emotional Characteristics
The emotional characteristics of OCD are mainly characterised by anxiety which is caused by the obsessions, however some sufferers of OCD also experience depression.
Anxiety is an uncomfortably high and persistent state of emotional arousal, making it difficult to relax. It results from the obsession and the constant worst-case scenario thinking that defines OCD.
Depression is the consistent and long-lasting sense of sadness. The result of being unable to control the anxiety-causing thoughts and OCD symptoms takes over the sufferer’s life, leading to issues like social withdrawal.
Cognitive Characteristics
Obsessions are the main cognitive feature of OCD. They are intrusive, irrational and recurrent thoughts that dominate the mind and are managed using compulsions in order to alleviate the anxiety they evoke. They tend to be unpleasant and catastrophic thoughts about potential dangers concerning them and perhaps their family and friends.
Hypervigilance is the permanent state of alertness where the sufferer is looking for the source of their obsessive thoughts; for example, someone with a contamination obsession looks at each surface they need to touch, thinking about the potential threat of exposure to germs.
Sufferers of OCD know that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational and therefore they experience selective attention (attentional bias) directed towards the anxiety-generating stimuli. This means that the individual with OCD is so focused on the objects connected to their obsession, they cannot focus on other things in their environment.
However, sufferers know that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational and therefore adopt cognitive strategies to cope, e.g., counting or praying, to manage the obsessions, which can themselves become obsessive.
