What is OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Anxiety Disorder?

Obsessive compulsive anxiety disorder (OCD), is an anxiety disorder marked by routine compulsions and obsessions that interfere with common functioning.

Many of us tend to keep a day by day routine. For instance, most people wash their hands before eating, and double check the locks on their cars and houses if they have to go somewhere. It is even natural to make sure that all your book collections are ordered according to size and all your clothes kept according to colour. The passion to be tidy or have something a certain way is not normally a problem.

If you can not stop yourself from washing your hands ten times in a row, or if you are very fearful of getting germs from other people, then you have stepped over the boundary of normal. This can interfere with your normal maturation as a social being with social, educational and occupational roles to play.

Two percent of the population suffers from OCD. OCD conduct is ordinarily brought on because of a heightened feel of danger or trauma. Performing these repetitive, unnecessary actions are frequently the consequence of unfounded fears.

What Types of OCD Exist?

Physicians have separated OCD into five categories. These categories show the fundamental fear that causes the obsessive conduct:

• Fear of Contamination -- These affected individuals go out of their way to avoid touching people or items that they guess will give them germs. These are people who have an irrational fear of getting contaminated by dirt and germs. Affected individuals of this type wash their hands, clothes, and anything else they can think of repeatedly.
• Fear of Tragedy - Individuals who fear undesirable events are termed as the "Checkers. This group is nicknamed the "Checkers" because of their compulsion to re-check their locks repeated times before leaving the house. This kind of OCD behavior leads them to develop extensive, time-consuming routines that intervene with activities of daily living.
• Fear of Messiness -- Although a lot of people don't like a mess, this group of individuals has an inordinate fear of things in their life being out of order. They constantly re-organize objects at home and work and become extraordinarily disturbed if someone else comes along and moves something.
• Fear of Awful Thoughts - Individuals who are considered "Obsessionals" are trapped with the fear of brutal, unwelcome thoughts such as hurting themselves or a loved one. To banish their unpleasant thoughts, they may sing a word over and over or count to the highest number they can.
• Fear of Throwing Items Away - Those with fear of discarding items are called the "Hoarders. They are paralyzed by the fear of needing something that has already been thrown away, so they keep things (yes, even refuse and junk) even those that they would definitely not need anymore. They also collect a mound of potentially practical items, but have so many of them that they could never put them all to good use.

Obsessive compulsive anxiety disorder is a psychoneurotic behavior. OCD may be caused by many factors, some of which are depression, chemical imbalances of the brain, or some other break in a person's early stages development. Because the exact cause of obsessive compulsive anxiety disorder varies from each person, and may be hard to determine, OCD treatment normally includes both therapy and medication.