Monday 10 September 2012

Know More about OCD and the Symptoms of OCD

Do you observe the urge for checking and re-checking things repeatedly? Do you experience disturbing thoughts frequently? Do you feel a strong craving to repeat certain behaviors with no control over them?
If your answer to any questions above is yes, you might have developed OCD. What is OCD? Let’s gather some necessary information about this disease.
What is OCD?
It is normal for somebody to cross check things sometimes, for example, one may double-check if the lights are switched off, before leaving a place, and this is certainly not unusual. However, OCD patients feel an uncontrollable desire to do certain things continually, have certain thoughts frequently or check things repetitively. These rituals and/or thoughts caused on account of OCD traumatize a person mentally and impede his/her daily life to a considerable extent.
Upsetting, repetitive thoughts are known as obsessions, while an effort to quench them by doing certain behaviors or rituals perpetually is termed as compulsions.
The beginning of OCD symptoms occurs during teenage or childhood. Signs may show up and disappear or improve and worsen on different occasions.
Signs of OCD
OCD sufferers usually:
• Suffer from repetitive ideas and thoughts about things like violent behavior; sexual acts; fear of dirt, intruders or germs; hurting loved ones; conflict with religious faith or being overly tidy and neat.
• Do the same things or rituals over and over, for example, reiterating the same steps, and washing hands, storing petty things, locking/unlocking doors or counting.
• Lose control over their behaviors and thoughts.
• Don’t like doing the behaviors or rituals, but feel relieved to some extent from the anxiety that arises because of these thoughts.
• Spend at least 1 hour every day experiencing the thoughts or an hour a day doing some rituals, which disturbs their daily life.
It’s been observed that sometimes, family history is one of the common causes of OCD; however researchers haven’t still determined the exact OCD trigger. Scientists have hypothesized that several brain parts are responsible for anxiety and fear. By carrying out more research on anxiety and fear, scientists will sooner be able to understand the exact cause of OCD.
Treating OCD
It’s been found out that, though exact OCD trigger is yet not known, OCD signs can be very well controlled with psychotherapy and the use of prescription drugs.
If you feel you are suffering from OCD, seek medical advice right away. The doctor will examine you to affirm or negate OCD. Clinical research has demonstrated that the combination of medicines and psychotherapy can mitigate the symptoms of OCD, as only one is not sufficient in several cases. Speak with your doctor for finalizing your course of treatment.
Drugs like Escitalopram are very efficient in treating OCD. Generic Escitalopram falls into a class of medications termed as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs and treat OCD by inhibiting the re-absorption of serotonin, a brain chemical. Preventing serotonin reuptake effectively manages the signs of OCD. Note that psychiatric medications must be taken exactly as recommended by the psychiatrist, failing which, one may experience certain side effects.















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