What is OCD?

People with OCD often suffer from obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors, which will occurs repeatedly, and which patients may deem excessive and unreasonable, and suppress but are unable to control. In order to counteract or avoid the anxiety and uncertainty caused by these thoughts, patients will go on with repetitive behaviors or rituals to relieve the anxiety and uncertainty. These repeated behaviors are called "compulsive behaviors."

OCD symptoms

• Obsessive thoughts

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, images, even urges, concerning safety, right or wrong, perfection and precision, symmetry; concerning morality, such as sex, violence, filth, religion, and crime (e.g. having doubts about the correctness of your wording and checking or confirming it in your mind; thinking again and again about the logic or correctness of 1+1=2); obsessive recalls (having to examine the memories in your mind when you don't have to recall what you've experienced); compulsive drive (an urge to go to a high place and jump down, fear of losing control and hurting someone, etc.), etc.

• Compulsive behaviors

The intention is to counteract doubts, worries and emotional anxieties, but as a result, ritualized habits emerge after constant adjustment. For example: compulsive inspection (repeatedly checking if doors and windows are closed when going out), compulsive cleaning (repeated hand washing, bathing, etc.), and compulsive act (e.g. touching the seat before sitting). Many ritualized behaviors are interrupted and have to be restarted. In severe cases, habitual avoidance behaviors may lead to life incapacitation.

Who gets OCD?

Although OCD can occur in anyone, it has a high chance to develop with a family history. Usually, the typical age of onset is male in adolescence and female in early adulthood. There is no difference in the incidence between men and women. Patients with other mental disorders such as Tourette Syndrome, autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and organic psychosis are also prone to obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

How to treat OCD

Usage of a variety of treatment modalities, including medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, and appropriate support.

• Pharmacotherapy: 70% of patients treated with drugs that regulate serotonin neuroconduction respond well. The intensity and frequency of compulsive thinking, and ritual and avoidant behaviors improve. When combined with behavioral therapy, the effect is even more pronounced.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy: practice with reality or imagination, give homework, and progressively challenge avoidance situations. Being in situations where you are afraid or anxious without performing compulsive behaviors is known as "exposure and response prevention."
• Family therapy and appropriate support: can motivate family members and patients to work together to improve family relationships, reduce conflict, and boost quality of life at home. Through the improvement of communication and the establishment of mutual understanding, it can strengthen the family's understanding and enhance patients' motivation to change, so as to reduce OCD symptoms.

Self-check OCD

You must have obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors for at least two consecutive weeks, to the extent that they have caused problems or affected your daily life.

1. How much time do obsessive thoughts take up in a day?

• 0　0hr
• 1　0~1hr
• 2　1~3hr
• 3　3~8hr
• 4　over 8hr

2. How much do obsessive thoughts affect daily life or work?

• 0　None
• 1　Mild
• 2　Moderate
• 3　Severe
• 4　Incapacitated

3. How disturbing are obsessive thoughts when they occur?

• 0　None
• 1　Mild
• 2　Moderate
• 3　Severe
• 4　Very severe and persistent

4. How much effort do you put into resisting the obsessive thoughts?

• 0　All-out
• 1  Most
• 2　Partial
• 3　Little
• 4　None

5. Can you control your obsessive thoughts?

• 0　Absolutely
• 1　Mostly
• 2　Usually
• 3　Hardly
• 4　Out of control

6. How much time do compulsive behaviors take up in a day?

• 0　0hr
• 1　0~1hr
• 2　1~3hr
• 3　3~8hr
• 4　over 8hr

7. How much do compulsive behaviors affect daily life or work?

• 0　None
• 1　Mild
• 2　Moderate
• 3　Severe
• 4　Incapacitated

8. How disturbing are compulsive behaviors when they occur?

• 0　None
• 1　Mild
• 2　Moderate
• 3　Severe
• 4　Very severe and persistent

9. How much effort do you put into resisting compulsive behaviors?

• 0　All-out
• 1  Most
• 2　Partial
• 3　Little
• 4　None

10. Can you control your compulsive behaviors?

• 0　Absolutely
• 1　Mostly
• 2　Usually
• 3　Hardly
• 4　Out of control