Hey fellow blades! So i've been thinking about this particular topic the past few days and i really want to hear some opinions on this topic Now before i start i wanna say this. I don't want to come off as an ignorant prick with some of the comments i'm going to make. This is just my way of thinking and my opinion on this particular issue. So please don't take this personally if something offends you. And i do apologize if u do get offended. Anyway, here is the thing i have never heard of ocd till i moved to u.s. I'm from Ukraine, former Soviet republic, and i have never come across obsessive compulsive disorder. The examples of ocd i've seen and heard of are things like people having to wash their hands 17 times exactly every time they touch a doorknob. Or they have to walk through a doorway starting with their left foot and if they don't they'll exit and re-enter. I've also heard people claim they have ocd because of certain eating habits they have. For example my gf will claim she's ocd because when she eats pepperoni pizza she'll eat the pepperoni first then the rest of the pizza. Or she'll eat the crust off the pb&j sandwich b4 she eats the rest of it. To me that's not a disorder. That's a habit people have. I.E whenever i eat finger food i always leave one hand clean, in case i need to grab my phone grab my drink or whatever. That's a habit. I know i don't have some disorder that i've never even heard off. Now waht i'm getting at is this. Is there treatment for ocd? What happens if let's say you have ocd, and you have to clap your hands 9times because something fell off the table, and you don't? It bothers you? But what else is gonna happen? I honestly view ocd as just habits people have. Yes it bothers them if they don't do something they're used to doing, but if you get in the habit to break the habit u'll forget about it eventually and that's it. I just want some input on this whole issue from everyone. If you have ocd, explain to me why its so difficult for you to "break the habit" so to speak. If you've ever received treatment etc Thanks for the input stay high and stay safe
You might want to read into the psychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder, then. It far more than just "habits." It's actual psychosis. The way the brain works in a person with OCD, compared to the way the brain works in a "normal" person are strinkingly different. I can assure you that there are cases of OCD in Ukraine. There was a major case study conducted out of Ukraine just a few years ago about the etiology of OCD. There is no treatment for OCD, per se. Medicine helps to manage it. It's not something people can just "not do." Ignoring their obsessions and compulsions many times causes panic attacks, or even psychotic breaks. Somebody with "habits" can control those habits without fear of mental anguish...somebody with OCD cannot.
I have always said this, even after completing psychology courses, and will continue to say it til I can no longer speak. Most "disorders" and such that are pegged as psychological are complete bull. From the age of 1 to 9 I lived in East Africa, and I've seen far more scarring things than the most Americans combined with their entire circle of friends and family. If anything I should be the one with a disorder. Instead I've realized they're the result of weakness. If you truly don't want to be OC or dependent on anything or have an addiction, you break it. (addictions to drugs and such with physical dependencies obviously being different) No one living in poverty has OCD. Only the weak with spare time and money to spend that don't have to worry about survival have OCD. Its all a big lie for the weak to justify their behavior. Obviously this post might upset some people and I'm sorry if it does that. I come from a family with a manic-depressive grandfather, among other things, and a cousin with OCD. I understand my grandfathers situation, given what he has lived through, but my cousins OCD is not justifiable in any way, in my opinion of course.
I had been diagnosed with the beginnings of OCD about a year ago. I was told that it is a progressive symptom that will increase over time. So the tendencies I have can grow, and I'll begin to notice new ones as I get older. I agree that it isn't habits either. There is a certain way that our brain works, and regardless of how hard we try, some of these tendencies can't be broken. I have to count my steps on sidewalks (when I return to the section of sidewalk, my steps have to match up again), in elevators I have to go to the left rear corner and hold my breath, when I use steps each step up or down has to have a noise attributed with the increase or decrease of elevation, when using crayons/colored pencils/etc I have to arrange them by color and shade starting from brightest to darkest (so a bright yellow would begin, followed by a regular yellow, then a yellow orange, etc...), I smell everything before I eat or drink out of it, and if it's a glass it has to be washed again always, and I have some more, but I believe I listed a good number. I was put on anti-depressants to try and help me avoid these thoughts, but the medication made it worse. It became a battle between myself. I had to fight myself to continue doing the things I'd normally do. After so many years I've become used to these things, and changing it, is like dividing by zero, you just don't do it. haha. I haven't tried any other medications yet, and I haven't seen my psychiatrist in quite some time. I like to think I'm doing just fine with my problem. I hope some of this information helps.
i forgot to add this part in. i was arguing with a coworker over this issue and she compared it to Tourette's (sp?) syndrome. Now, i might not now a lot about Tourette's but last time i checked it was a syndrome that cause involuntary motions. Whether it's saying random things or making noises or movements it was involuntary. Versus ocd where everything you do is under your control I mean, maybe you feel like you HAVE to do that it's not quite the same as having NO control over your bodily actions.
It's not entirely involuntarily, but because of the way our brain works it makes it extremely hard if not emotionally frustrating to ignore it. Some people have conquered some of their problems, some don't even try. I do my best to make progress, but it's extremely hard. I imagine if someone had a rock solid brain and were put on the right medication, they could conquer the whole disorder, but it's rare you even hear about it.
And we've got another person completely ignorant of neurobiology and psychology preaching about something they know nothing about. Again, I would encourage you and anybody else that thinks like you do to go out and do some research, especially in the area of neurobiology and how the brain physically changes during an OCD episode. It's not something someone can force...it's not something that happens to the "weak," and it's certainly not something to scoff at. Indigenous people in Africa also tend to make full-blown paranoid schizophrenics their shamans. Just because they don't have a word for the condition, or an understanding of the condition as it relates to neurobiology doesn't mean the condition just doesn't exist there. We've come a long way from viewing psychosis as the signs of demonic possession. Some countries still think that way. When people talk out the side of their mouths about things they won't take the time to sit down and research it sets us back centuries. Stop spreading falsehoods, and actually attempt to understand this issue. And just for the record, there are hundreds of case-studies that have been carried out amongst the impoverished. Guess what? They have a higher likelihood of psychosis. Likewise, there have been hundreds of documented cases of OCD amongst the impoverished. A quick search through any university's medical journals will show this.
Actually, he's right. It would seem everyone has the ability to have an OCD episode. There is nothing that occurs in OCD patients that never occurs in non-OCD patients; rather, these 'episodes' if you will simply occur far, far more often in OCD patients. These can be applied to many other psychological disorders; it's just a prevalence of certain neurological reactions that occur more often to one individual than another. It's like depression, hostage syndrome, or even something simpler like fear. All our brains are programmed to react in this manner, the frequency in which they do is the difference. That is why you have so many different levels of OCD. There are those who claim to never be affected, yet you could find some repetitive patterns within their lives. There are those who claim maybe they eat the crust first or always organize their Smarties first. Then there are those who claim they can't walk into a room without looking up twice and such. Finally, you get the worst cases where people can't even exist properly in society because of their habits. To me, this shows that everyone is capable of having OCD, just at varying levels, leading me to believe it's one of those disorders that can apply to every human (like depression). I find it hilarious that you even bring neurobiology into this. Like as if we have anything close to a realistic, complete, proper understanding of how the brain works, let alone brain disorders. We can't even isolate hormones within our brain for crying out loud. What does the neurobiology show, might I ask? If it's increased brain activity in "OCD patients" during certain events, that's hardly evidence. I'm not gonna claim OCD is factually prevalent amongst everyone, I don't have that fact. But considering we can't factually conclude much about brain disorders at this time, I'd say the anecdotal evidence sways towards everyone having the capable brain chemistry to display OCD symptoms at the very least.