Obssession with Compulsion, a disorder

    In my country, being a psychiatric patient means that you are a living zombie. Like a disease of the human brain, there can be a disease of the human mind too, and having one is just perfectly normal and curable. Unlike diabetes or hypertension, being depressed, it is totally treatable. 

    The human brain and the human mind are two different entities. Similarly there can be psychological problems and neurological problems. 

    Today's topic of discussion is a common psychiatric problem named as the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). 

   Obsession is characterized by thoughts which are repetitive, intrusive, and  senseless.

   Compulsion is simply a thought on which you are stuck for an endless time.

   According to the stats given by W.H.O. at least 1-3% of the world's population is suffering from this disorder. The male population is equally affected as the female population. Usually it goes undiagnosed but when it is, it usually occurs around the age of 19 years.

   According to a journal published by CPSP every psychological problem has a metabolic basis. A patient under observation while being obsessed with excessive washing of the hands had shown increased metabolism of the frontal lobe and activity in the caudate nucleus. The frontal lobe is basically the thought processor of our brain.

   If I simply talk about the symptoms then the patient might have an aggravated fear of germs, he may wash his hands again and again, he might have an obsession of keeping things symmetrical and in the right place, he might have taboo thoughts all the time, and he may be aggressive without any reason, he might be constantly checking on things like his wallet or his wrist watch.

   Some people may present with a tic disorder characterized by eye blinking, shoulder shrugging and vocal tics. These symptoms may come and go and may also worsen with time.

   There are certain risk factors including a genetic predisposition or a child nurturing in a traumatic or abusive environment.

   The treatment is majorly a cognitive behaviour therapy of a 45 minutes session with your psychiatrist.