People with OCD experience recurrent and persistent thoughts, images or impulses that are intrusive and unwanted (obsessions). They also perform repetitive and ritualistic actions that are excessive, time-consuming and distressing (compulsions).
When it comes to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a common mental health disorder in which a person has reoccurring thoughts and behaviors they continually repeat, avoidance is often used as a coping mechanism. People with OCD may try to avoid unwanted thoughts or situations that may trigger their obsessions.
People with OCD often have a heightened fear of guilt and sense of obligation. They feel like they must worry about and do certain things to protect others and themselves.
Heightened Creativity – when channeled in the best ways possible, OCD can provide us with a greater sense of creativity, which can be used towards problem-solving or projects. Detail-Oriented – many work endeavors require precision and detail, and this skill can often be honed in my those with OCD.
Despite the challenges, many people with OCD lead a successful and healthy work life in jobs that are meaningful and rewarding.
Despite their feelings of frustration and distress, those suffering from OCD can lead happy, highly functioning, productive lives, full of healthy relationships. When spouses/partners, family members, friends, and colleagues are more informed about OCD, it is easier to be supportive and understanding.
If you have coping statements like “everything is going to be Okay,” then you are also attempting to seek certainty through positive statements. These types of self-talk actually functions to reassure you that your intrusive thought is false. As a result, positive self-talk becomes another form of compulsions.
OCD can start at any time from preschool age to adulthood (usually by age 40). One third to one half of adults report that their OCD started during childhood. On average, people with OCD see 3 to 4 doctors and spend over 9 years seeking treatment before they receive a correct diagnosis.
The condition often involves cognitive distortions, which are inaccurate, unhelpful, and irrational beliefs that make us feel bad about ourselves. There are many types of cognitive distortion, and black-and-white thinking – also called all-or-nothing thinking — is common in OCD.
Pure O stands for 'purely obsessional'. People sometimes use this phrase to describe a type of OCD where they experience distressing intrusive thoughts but there are no external signs of compulsions (for example checking or washing). The name is slightly misleading as it suggests that there are no compulsions at all.
Individuals with OCD are empaths—highly tuned in to the feelings of others—and this allows them to connect deeply, sometimes almost telepathically with others.
Loneliness can worsen the symptoms of OCD. Being alone with your compulsions and obsessions can mean that they just become a bigger part of your life. Initially, it may feel 'safer' to avoid other people, but isolation greatly decreases your chances of managing this condition.
People with OCD often have issues with confidence because they are constantly doubting themselves and their abilities. This can be extremely frustrating and debilitating, as it can prevent them from enjoying activities or participating in activities that they used to enjoy.
It can be difficult, demanding and exhausting to live with a person who has OCD. Family members and friends may become deeply involved in the person's rituals and may have to assume responsibility and care for many daily activities that the person with OCD is unable to undertake.
Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness. Howard Robard Hughes Jr. Houston, Texas, U.S.
Howard Hughes, who I wrote about in my book, was a successful entrepreneur, but in the latter part of his life, as his OCD characteristics became worse, he became totally isolated. He couldn't interact with people in business or in society.”
Of 10 155 persons with OCD (5935 women and 4220 men with a mean [SD] age of 29.1 [11.3] years who contributed a total of 54 937 person-years of observation), 110 (1.1%) died during the average follow-up of 9.7 years.
People with OCD tend to be very persistent in achieving their goals. The same drive that someone has toward completing a compulsion, when directed toward more meaningful goals, will allow them the ability to stick with a task, even when it feels adverse or difficult.
Active “ignoring” can trigger an additional sense of being in denial (and thus more anxiety). It can quickly devolve into a habit of “white-knuckling” through life, which is unsustainable.
It's an important scientific insight, but it's not a diagnostic test. The fact is, the vast majority of the time, a brain scan in someone with OCD looks completely normal.