Close the door with left hand, then touch door handle with right hand.
Take towel from rail and keep it on edge of bath with the left hand, then touch it with the right hand.
Take toothbrush from cabinet and place it on the edge of washbasin with left hand then again return and touch it with the right hands.
And all this actions will continue through the whole long process made by the performer to have a normal daily hygienic cleaning.
But not only this kind of action are performed there are many different millions of different kind of actions done through the whole day, I could right without stopping 100 pages and more on the explanation of the process of repetition that is done sometimes by a single person for the whole day, but it only will show us that all this actions are based on repetitions.
So we can say that obsessions are classified as repetitive or intrusive thoughts, impulses, or images that cause a marked anxiety distress. And compulsions are defined as repetitive ritualistic behavior or mental acts that the patient feels driven to perform that are done for the only purpose of reducing distress, but are not realistically connected with that distress. Sometimes and most of the time obsessions and compulsions are linked and one can provoke the other. Because outward behavior is much more easily studied in cultural anthropology than ideas hard to depict of human mind I am going to base my explanation on the behavioral aspect of OCD.
Aspects of compulsive behavior:
1) The actions are repetitive and formalized
2) The patient feels driven to perform them
3) The acts are performed to reduce distress, and are not ends in themselves
4) The patient may recognize the behavior is unreasonable and unrealistic
5) The patient finds the behavior to be disturbing and attempts to resist and or avoid situations where ritualizing will become necessesary.
The first deals with the observable characteristics of OCD behavior. Typically OCD behavior involves excessive washing, checking, ordering, concern with symmetry, counting, hoarding and or repeating words silently or aloud.
The second and third criteria concern the patient perceived motivation for performing the behaviors. But the acts themselves do not produce pleasure, they only provide relief from the discomfort or distress that a person is having. So OCD behaviors are not gratifying, they are uncomfortable, and simultaneously irresistible.
The final two criteria are the most important for distinguishing OCD -like behavior from normal ritualizing. When a patient realizes that the behaviors that act to reduce distress are not reasonably connected to the real world concerns, yet feels good to perform them here is when OCD is the usual diagnosis. Some patients with OCD do not interpret their actions unreasonable, but instead develop elaborate explanations for them; this is particularly common in children. So OCD is currently classified as anxiety disorder.
Treatment of Compulsive Ritualization
Prior to 1966 the only knew effective treatment for OCD was psychosurgery, witch was only performed in extremely severe cases.
For the vast majority some relief from symptoms occurs with the behavior therapy, medication, or combination of the two. The most frequent treatment modalities are:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
This treatment of OCD is exposure and ritual prevention, encourage patients to expose themselves to situations that normally trigger a need to ritualize, and then prevent the behavior until the discomfort subsides. This is conducted initially in the presence of the therapist, and then the patient is instructed to try the technique increasingly in his or her own. This is more successful when accompanied by a cognitive therapy designed to equip the patient with alternative techniques for coping with the distress.
Usually patients are reluctant to go with the guided exposure to cues that normally trigger rituals, there are reports that a lot of patients recommended for this type of therapy refuse to comply or do not complete the treatment due to the massive increase in discomfort and depression associated with exposure and ritual prevention.
A recent variation in this treatment has included the use of computer simulation or guidance in exposure to behavior triggers.
Pharmacotherapy
The other major focus of treatment for OCD is medication based. The discovery in 1966 that clomipramine (anafabril) is effective in reducing OCD symptoms sparked a flood of research into neurobiology of OCD and its management with prescriptions drugs. The central role of SEROTONIN in OCD is now very important in the answer of why this actions are repeated and there is new types of medicine that have been created to the treatment of this disorder.
The responses to drugs are remarkably different than those to only exposure and obviously the responses are better. The depressive patients treated with clomipramine show highly response rates, and require up to four weeks before improvement is measurable.
Other drugs have subsequently been shown to be effective in the treatment of OCD. These drugs include fluvoxamine (luvox, faverin, Floxyfral), floxetine (Prozac), and sertaline (Zoloft). This drugs are good when perfoming the actions of the exposure of the trigger. And obviously all the individuals vary in their response to these drugs.
Combined Approaches
The most common recommendation is the combination of the types of therapy. Relapse is common upon withdrawal of the medication, suggesting the term for long term prescriptions; while cognitive-behavioral therapy is still effective even if administered in a time limited fashion.
It should be emphasized that no "magic bullet" exists in the array of available treatment of OCD.
Conclusion
In my essay I gave a general explanation of what is OCD how it is created, how it is cured and the most important thing for this class is how is it related to anthropology, even dough anthropology has not reciprocated the interest, perhaps because of the combination of biology and culture is repellent, do I hope there is more to come in the part of research from the anthropologies.
I liked a lot to write this essay because I found a lot of new interesting things of OCD and also for the first time I learned how it can be related with anthropology. So I hope this essay helps you as much as it helped me to understand many aspects of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I also think that this essay will help me to continue my extensive research of obsessive compulsive disorder, and I think it also will help others that can read and understand what really is happening in their surroundings, so they can help and learn of something that can even be happening to discomfort persons near them, and to see how they can help.
I hoped you like it as I really did, and if you want to learn more I invite you to see the movie as good as it gets, and visit my official web-page of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD causes people to suffer in silence and secrecy and can destroy relationships and the ability to work. It may bring on shame, ridicule, anger, and intolerance from friends and family. Although it has been reported in children, it strikes most often during adolescence or young adult years. The illness can affect people in any income bracket, of any race, gender, or ethnic group and in any occupation. If people recognize the symptoms and seek treatment, OCD can be controlled.
OCD plagues people with intrusive, unwanted thoughts or obsessions, which are rarely pleasant. People who have these obsessions recognize that they are senseless. Still, they are unable to stop them. They may worry about becoming contaminated by dirt or germs and believe they will be tainted by touching doorknobs or common objects. Others may fear becoming violent or aggressive, or they may have an unreasonable fear they will unintentionally harm people. Some may struggle with blasphemous or distasteful sexual thoughts, while others become overly concerned about order, arrangement or symmetry.
In an attempt to ease the anxiety related to their obsessions, people often develop ritualistic behaviors, called compulsions. Often, these reflect the patient's obsessions. For example, an obsessive fear about contamination often leads to compulsive hand washing, even to the point where the person's hands bleed. Others repeatedly touch a specific object or say a name or phrase in response to an obsession. An extreme and intrusive fear of making mistakes on the job may result in a person completing tasks extremely slowly, even to the point that the job is never finished. Obsessions may also result in compulsive collecting of useless items such as magazines and newspapers until they clog entire rooms of homes and endanger occupants' safety.
The most common of many compulsions are washing and checking. Other compulsive behaviors include counting (often while performing another compulsive action such as hand washing), repeating, hoarding, and endlessly rearranging objects in an effort to keep them in precise alignment with each other. These behaviors generally are intended to ward off harm to the person with OCD or others. Some people with OCD have regimented rituals while others have rituals that are complex and changing. Performing rituals may give the person with OCD some relief from anxiety, but it is only temporary.
These obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind of the person with OCD. Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable belief that one has a terrible illness, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly, are common. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated--I must wash them"; "I may have left the gas on"; or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts are intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Often the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness.
People with OCD usually have considerable insight into their own problems. Most of the time, they know that their obsessive thoughts are senseless or exaggerated, and that their compulsive behaviors are not really necessary. However, this knowledge is not sufficient to enable them to stop obsessing or the carrying out of rituals.
Because victims of OCD realize their obsessive thoughts and behaviors are senseless and unnecessary, they may try to hide their problem. They fear people will think they are "crazy" or silly, and they may feel that they're all alone. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. OCD affects as many as 2 percent of all Americans. Research indicates that, like depression and bipolar disorder, OCD is caused by an imbalance of the neurotransmitter called serotonin. This brain chemical, one of many that allows the nerve cells to communicate with one another, is thought to regulate mood and sleeping patterns.
Most people with OCD struggle to banish their unwanted, obsessive thoughts and to prevent themselves from engaging in compulsive behaviors. Many are able to keep their obsessive-compulsive symptoms under control during the hours when they are at work or attending school. But over the months or years, resistance may weaken, and when this happens, OCD may become so severe that time-consuming rituals take over the sufferers' lives, making it impossible for them to continue activities outside the home.
Other research links the illness to biological responses to threats. According to this theory, healthy people become accustomed to a stimulus that - although originally thought to be a threat - turns out to be harmless. People with OCD, however, never develop an "immunity" to the stimulus and continue to feel anxious. Over time, their anxiety develops into obsessions which, in turn, give rise to the compulsive behavior. Other theories focus on the psychological reactions to a traumatic incident during childhood, major stress. and a biological vulnerability that can be triggered by stress.
Researchers have found that certain antidepressant medications help alleviate obsessive behaviors by increasing the amount of serotonin and improve communication between the nerve cells. Other than medication, behavior therapy has proven very successful in helping people with OCD overcome the anxiety that they feel if they do not complete their compulsions. In behavior therapy, a patient is exposed to the feared object or obsession, but prevented from completing the compulsive behavior. For example, people who fear contamination may be encouraged to touch dirty laundry and be denied the chance to wash their hands for a specified period of time. Most often, behavior therapy includes guidelines or a "contract" in which the patient and treatment team agree on certain goals.
In conclusion, families may participate in therapy by attending information sessions about the situations that may cause symptoms to worsen and the ways that loved ones can help the patient overcome the illness. Often family members can help the patient honor the terms of the treatment contract, and can also help to identify whether the patient is experiencing emotional difficulties. It is important for family and friends to create a strong and supportive environment in which they learn to appreciate progress in their loved one's functioning and view small improvements as a success.
