Dundee Association for Mental Health

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is the name given to a condition in which people experience repetitive and upsetting thoughts and compulsions.  Someone with an obsessive-compulsive disorder feels they have no control over certain thoughts or ideas that are highly disturbing to them; they are often frightening and distressing or seem so unacceptable that they cannot share them with anyone.  These thoughts, or obsessions create unbearable anxiety, which can only be relieved by performing a particular ritual to neutralize them, contained within these thoughts and/or obsessions is an underlying belief that the person suffering from these thoughts/compulsions or other people may come to harm if they do not perform these actions, this could be something like repeatedly opening and closing a door, washing your hands, or counting. 

OCD is much more common than many people think; some suggestions estimate that up to 3% of the UK population may have OCD, although this may be an underestimation as many people do not seek help as they are too afraid.  They worry that people may think they are mad, and often do not know that OCD is a recognized condition and there are effective treatment's available.

These treatments include:

• Medication - some people find drug treatment may help; your Doctor would be able to give you more information about this.
• Talking Treatments - Such as counselling, psychotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy.
• Exposure and response prevention (ERP) - This is a way to stop the compulsive behaviour from strengthening each other.  We know that if we stay in a stressful situation long enough, you gradually become used to it and your anxiety goes away.  If you gradually face the situation, your fear (exposure), but stop yourself from doing your usual compulsive rituals e.g. checking, cleaning or counting etc (this is called response prevention) and you then wait for your anxiety to go away.  For more information and the steps on how to put this into practice please refer to The Royal College of Psychiatrists leaflet (available from our information point)

Treatment of OCD often includes a combination of strategies, including self help.  It can be useful to share your experiences with self help groups, they can provide and give you encouragement and support and also some people find that the relaxation techniques are also useful.

The actual cause of OCD is much debated but profesionals think it is down to a combination of factors and the causes for OCD in one person are and can be different compared to another.  OCD can run in families and in some cases may be associated with an underlying biochemical inmbalance in the brain.  Psychological factors such as susceptibility to stress or exposure to an emotionally traumatic experience can also be a cause.  The good news is that for the majority of people OCD can be effectively controlled and treated.