Obsessions, or as they are more commonly used in medical literature, are repetitive and compelling thoughts, feelings or impulses that disturb a person. The person is usually aware that their obsession is irrational, but they still have difficulty getting these thoughts out of their mind. Obsessions are often accompanied by some behaviors that we call compulsions. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or thoughts that a person does or feels compelled to do in order to relieve the distress caused by their obsession. For this reason, the disease is recognized as obsessive-compulsive disorder in psychiatry.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms
The most common obsession is contamination (contact with any disease or object that is disgusted, etc.) and the resulting cleaning compulsion. Excessive hand washing can sometimes even lead to complete destruction of the skin; the person may spend most of the day washing or isolating themselves at home by not going out for fear of contamination. Another common obsession is doubt (is the stove on?, is the door locked?, is everything in its place? did I make a mistake?). These doubts are accompanied by a checking compulsion. For example, one may return home many times to check if the door is locked, get out of bed many times to check if the light is on, or check the same text hundreds of times to make sure that a given task has been done without mistakes, and repeat certain words over and over until one is sure that they were spoken. Apart from these, there may be many obsessions, such as sexual or religious obsessions (am I a sinner or not?), obsession with evil or fear of doing something bad, fear of losing control, obsessions about everything being in its place and being symmetrical are also common obsessions in the clinic.
It must be said that not every obsession is a disease. There are many people who have ‘innocent’ obsessions in their daily lives and continue them for years. In addition, some personality traits such as meticulousness, orderliness, control and rule-abidingness are often beneficial to people and cause them to live a better quality and more successful life. However, if a person starts to experience some problems in their daily life, at work and in their social environment due to their obsessions, if these obsessions present a significant challenge in a significant part of their life and start to take up significant amounts of their time, then it can be said that there is a situation that requires psychiatric treatment. For example, if the obsessive person starts to miss the office shuttle every morning while trying to check the door, or if the time they spend in the bathroom for cleaning has exceeded normal limits (for example, if they spend more than half an hour in the bathroom each time), or if they start to organize their life to meet the requirements of these obsessions (for example, carrying gloves to hold door handles, having a mattress to avoid sitting in someone else’s seat, etc.), then they have reached the stage of disease and need treatment.
Let’s Create Your Appointment Together
Let’s choose the right specialist for you together.
Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
It is noted that in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder through medical and psychotherapy, the individual gains functionality to a great extent and disturbing thoughts and behaviors decrease.
Drug treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder is used as a very effective way to alleviate symptoms such as anxiety and discomfort observed in the individual.
Apart from this, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is among the most frequently used therapy types in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Informing the person and the family about the compulsive situation experienced (psychoeducation) is the most important part of the process. When the individual comes to thoughts that make him/her feel uncomfortable (obsession), he/she often exhibits various behavioral patterns that will relax him/herself (compulsion). The temporary relief he/she feels reinforces the person to behave in the same way when similar thoughts are triggered. The aim of the therapy protocol is to prevent the individual’s compulsive reactions through the method called “exposure”.
