Why OCD should be fought.

This post is a mixture of OCD triggers and ways of fighting them in your life.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings.
By understanding what it really is, it also helps on fighting or not being a victim of what many might call unnecessary behaviours the sometimes lead to unnecessary events. 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is an anxiety disorder that generally causes extreme discomfort. Sufferers are often riddled with persistent and recurrent impulses, thoughts and images that are unwanted.

We live in the Age of Awkward. It's hip to be square, cool to be uncool, and sexy to be nerdy (and above all, quirky). And there's no better way to assert your individuality and weirdness than branding yourself "so OCD" about something.

examples of “So OCD” tweets.

“forgetting a pen and having to take notes in pencil when the rest are in pes is literally killing me right now #ocd”

“I have the biggest #ocd when someone doesn’t text me back”

“If the volume on tv isn’t on a multiple of 5, i can’t #ocd”

“My form of #ocd is i have to know what color m&ms i’m eating or i go crazy”

“It really bothers me when people have uneven eyebrows #ocd “

and many more.

Severe cases of OCD can cause an extreme amount of distress, and the disorder can dramatically interfere with a person’s daily life.

The types of OCD.

• Intrusive thoughts

• Constant checking

• Fear of contamination

• Hoarding

Sufferers of OCD who have intrusive thoughts generally have reoccurring images in their minds that are disturbing or horrific. These thoughts may occur based on an event that happened in the person’s life, or they may occur for no particular reason. Sufferers of OCD who have the need to constantly check on people or items generally fear that something bad will happen if they stop checking. For example, someone with OCD may constantly walk throughout their home to make sure all the doors and windows are locked due to their fear that someone might try to break in.

Sufferers who have a fear of contamination may take baths and wash their hands many times throughout the course of one day, or they may be obsessed with cleaning every inch of their home to ensure it is spotless and free of germs. OCD sufferers who hoard items are obsessed with making sure they keep everything they’ve ever owned, even if the item is worn out or useless. A person who hoards becomes emotionally attached to items, and the very thought of throwing things away can cause great distress.

How to get rid of OCD.

Don't avoid your fears. It might seem smart to avoid the situations that trigger your obsessive thoughts, but the more you avoid them, the scarier they feel. Instead, expose yourself to your OCD triggers, then try to resist or delay the urge to complete your relief-seeking compulsive ritual.

Obsessions.

Obsessions are images, ideas, and thoughts that simply will not go away. While it is not uncommon for individuals to have disturbing thoughts from time to time, a person with OCD cannot escape their thoughts no matter how hard they try. These recurring thoughts are so severe that they can debilitate someone with OCD.

Compulsions are behaviours that individuals with obsessions display in order to relieve themselves of their anxiety. With OCD, the compulsive behavior is directly related to the excessive thought. For example, someone who counts their money every hour may have an obsessive fear someone will steal it or they will lose it.

There is not always a physical behavior associated with an obsession. If you constantly worry about or have obsessive thoughts about something you cannot control, such as the safety of a long-lost relative, you may feel a great deal of distress, but your doctor is unlikely to diagnose you with obsessive-compulsive disorder. There is generally some type of compulsive behavior that accompanies the obsession in individuals who receive this diagnosis.

How to get rid of OCD pt2

It’s normal, on occasion, to go back and double-check that the iron is unplugged or your car is locked. But if you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors become so excessive they interfere with your daily life. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to shake them. But help is available. With treatment and self-help strategies, you can break free of the unwanted thoughts and irrational urges and take back control of your life.

What causes OCD?

OCD is a disorder that is not yet fully understood. However, medical professionals believe there is a genetic component to this disease, as there is some research that has shown that this disorder has the tendency to run in families. This behavior can also be learned based on habits you may have developed during childhood or over a long period of time.

The symptoms of OCD include both obsessive and compulsive behaviors. Signs of obsession include:

• Repeated unwanted ideas

• Fear of contamination

• Aggressive impulses

• Persistent sexual thoughts

• Images of hurting someone you love

• Thoughts that you might cause others harm

• Thoughts that you might be harmed

Signs of compulsion include:

• Constant checking

• Constant counting

• The repeated cleaning of one or more items

• Repeatedly washing your hands

• Constantly checking the stove or door locks

• Arranging items to face a certain way

Emotional Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Sufferers of OCD are generally very anxious and emotional. They display many non-OCD symptoms, such as depression, excessive worry, extreme tension, and the constant feeling that nothing is ever right.

Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of OCD

A person with OCD may experience multiple short-term effects, including the inability to function as a contributing member of society, difficulties at school or work, or trouble maintaining friendships or romantic relationships. The long-term effects of OCD generally develop due to the poor quality of life that most extreme sufferers have. Long-term effects include depression, constant anxiety and an increased risk of substance abuse.

Except that OCD isn't a quirk or a set of tendencies or a BuzzFeed list; it's an incapacitating, isolating disease that makes you afraid of your own mind. Here's what it's really like to have OCD.

How OCD fails our mind.

You Believing you’re a Terrible Person.

Imagine the feeling of having a song stuck in your head. Now imagine that instead of “it’s raining men,” It’s the thought of murdering your best friend. In graphic detail. Over and over again. You’re not mad at your best friend, and you’ve never done anything violent, but it won’t stop playing.

You probably get my point reading this. But that’s what the “obsessive” part of OCD is like: intrusive, unwanted, disturbing thoughts that won’t go away. No one seems to know what causes them although it might be miscommunication between parts of the brain or something faulty in its error detection circuit.

The thought aren’t always about you doing bad things, but they’re never pleasant. Most obsessions are based on deep fears — “What if I or someone I love gets sick?” — or basically the worst things one can think of, like blasphemy, racism, suicide, murder, rape, contamination, animal abuse, cannibalism, torture …

People with OCD who have thoughts of doing something violent never actually act on these thoughts, and those who dread bad things happening almost never see those things happen.

But while most people can shake off a weird thought, when you have OCD, it sticks in your mind. Inevitably, you think, “Why do I keep thinking about these things? Is it because they’ll happen? Do I want them to happen?”

The Answer is NO, you don’t. But you’ll always fear you do.

You’re Probably Not a neat Freak

Some of you might have watched the show MONK, about a private eye whose OCD makes him a brilliant detective. When you watch it, can make you feel like how gay friends felt about Queer Eye of the Straight Guys, a UK tv series, it was nice to see how gays represented straights in a useful way, but did it have to be so stereotypical?

Despite what Monk or the company Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics might have you think, OCD doesn’t necessarily mean you’re neat and particular. Those of you into freaks shows (sorry, reality shows): Have you ever seen that show Hoarding? Hoarding is often a symptom of OCD.

Compulsions vary. Sometimes they correspond to fears, like washing your hands because you’re scared of contamination. Sometimes there’s no real logic behind them, like when you have to jump over a line on the floor because otherwise everybody you know will die horribly and it will be all your fault, or that if you throw your pair of shoes down and if one is upside down, its bad luck… i don’t think its a bad luck in the making… its response of matter towards gravity.

Many don’t have physical compulsions at all, instead suffering from “purely obsessional” OCD, where all they have are obsessions. And some people with diagnosed OCD even obsessively doubt the fact that they have OCD. How’s that for a mindfuck?

OCD, at heart, is an anxiety disorder. Yet movie and TV characters with OCD are often shown washing their hands or straightening things, never suffering from overbearing anxiety. This is probably because writing is hard and it’s easier to show someone cleaning that to show someone going through extreme mental anguish.

There have been some more true-to-life accounts in the media lately: Maria Bamford talks about OCD in her standup act, and the depiction on Girls was actually pretty accurate.

but the majority is still way off… how sad.

This is why people be found staying up late writing to Obsessive Cosmetics suggesting that, while they’re at it, they should start selling their makeup in insulin syringes and call it “Diabetic Cosmetics.”

When OCD makes you think there’s something Wrong with You

One of the many differences between OCDers and people who who are just “quirky” — besides a role on a major sitcom — is shame. Let’s be clear: If you regularly check your pockets to confirm that you’ve still got your car keys, or if you prefer your sandwiches with the crust cut off, or your belts in wardrobe are all facing the same direction, or if you only eat red Starbursts, you’r not suffering from OCD. Those are just quirks, and also the red Starburst is obviously the best, or just chemicals to make you fatter. People like quirks when they’re cure, fun, and harmless. When they involve licking light switches or hitting yourself over the head with your shoe, people just think you’re “crazy.”

But you’ll believe it of yourself as well. You’ll be standing in your bathroom at 6 in the morning, scrubbing your pocket change because you’ve been awake for two hours wondering if it could contaminate your clothes and make you a danger to the people around you, and you’ll be unable to stop, but you’ll know that what you’re doing is crazy.

OCD is ego dystonic, which means “out of sync with your ideal self” or “making you look and feel like weird.” People with personality disorders usually think they’re always in the right, and people with psychosis often don’t realise that their delusions are coming from their heads. But one of the defining aspects of OCD is knowing that your thoughts are bizarre and your ritual senseless to some.

I normally tell my Ugandan OCDers, that if you’re uncomfortable with this and that, leave planet earth, or clean the house yourself, organise your gadgets, by doing everything your self you will be more certified than if it was being done for you.

This bring me back to my point above… Don't avoid your fears. It might seem smart to avoid the situations that trigger your obsessive thoughts, but the more you avoid them, the scarier they feel. Instead, expose yourself to your OCD triggers, then try to resist or delay the urge to complete your relief-seeking compulsive ritual.

It’s normal, on occasion, to go back and double-check that the iron is unplugged or your car is locked. But if you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors become so excessive they interfere with your daily life. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to shake them. But help is available. With treatment and self-help strategies, you can break free of the unwanted thoughts and irrational urges and take back control of your life.

Be happy in life... attract more happiness than anything else.