Tag Archives: obsessions

Living with a Person with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Sharing a household with a person suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is not easy. It is not uncommon for family members to believe that the sufferer is just “picky” and stubborn and therefore unnecessary arguments and stress results, not only for the co-habiter but for the sufferer as well. Fiona’s husband, Steve, had no idea that his wife had OCD. He had never heard of it. Yet when his wife checked the windows every night before going to bed, even when she knew some of them hadn’t even been opened, he complained. When she checked the dials on the oven … Continue reading →

Unhealthy Obsessions: Me and My Computer

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I have come to the conclusion that I am really obsessed with my computer, and the Internet. As I already covered earlier, I have found that I always seem to have multiple programs going at the same time: iTunes, Bloglines, Gmail, and lots of documents everywhere–finished blogs I need to post, halfway finished ones I need to polish, and then ones that only have the idea typed across the top (“Need to talk about how to deal with an insane boss”–something I’ve had to deal with way too often lately.) On a particularly crazy day, I had twelve documents open … Continue reading →

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Causes and Treatment

Approximately 1 in 50 people suffer from this debilitating disorder to some degree, with the majority of sufferers being female. We all have doubts from time to time about whether we turned the iron off or not, and we may even take steps to check if we actually did switch the iron off. But why do some of us go on to develop this disorder and not others? One theory states that early life experiences may lead the sufferer to believe that some thoughts are unacceptable. This is common is households where discussions about sex are prohibited and the child … Continue reading →

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Symptoms and Behaviors

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As noted in What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? this condition in its most severe form is one of the most distressing conditions of all mental illnesses. OCD varies in severity, but in it most serious form, the suffer will usually also suffer from generalized anxiety disorder (an all-pervasive, yet unspecific fear), panic attacks, avoidance of certain places and situations, together with major depression. The “obsessive” part of OCD refers to the constant stream of intrusive thoughts and images which bombard the sufferer’s mind, which despite the best attempts by the sufferer, are almost impossible to eliminate. The “compulsive” component of the … Continue reading →

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Kathleen cannot leave the house without repeatedly checking that she has locked the front door properly. She rattles the door over and over again to assure herself that the door is locked. She will start to leave the premises only to return up the front steps again to reassure herself that the door is, in fact, locked. She may repeat this more than once. Helen cannot bear to use a towel once it has already been used, even if it has only been used just once to wipe her own hands. It has to be replaced immediately. She also cannot … Continue reading →