Obsessions are disturbing ideas or impulses that intrude on a persons mind. They may take the form of fears that harm may come to oneself or a loved one. They may be an extreme worry about getting contaminated, a dread of illness or an overpowering need to do things perfectly. Sometimes these obsessions can have violent or sexual natures.
Compulsions are repetitive actions driven by obsessions. The most common obsessions are contamination, doubt and loss, which lead to the common compulsions of hand washing, checking and hoarding. Some compulsions, such as uncontrollable counting, aren't obvious to others. People with ocd often fear that if they fail to perform these acts something bad will happen to them or others.
Man y people who suffer from ocd struggle to hide their obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour from other people, they are often terribly afraid of how others may react to their illness, even to the point of being to afraid to admit certain thoughts to a doctor.
Ocd most commonly begins in adolescence although it can appear in children. It is thought that about 2-3% of the population will suffer from ocd symptoms at some point in their life. The most widley held theory today is that there is a genetic predisposition to ocd which is then triggered by some trauma. However ocd is treatable, both therapy and drug tratments have a high sucess rate although often the condition returns at stressful points in a persons life. Related conditions include compulsive hair pulling, body dismorphic disorder and hypochondria.
