What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) got its definition in the 1990s when the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR), listed OCD as a “severe anxiety disorder” (Davis, 2008, p.5), which is “characterized by uncontrollable intrusive thoughts and action that can only be alleviated by patterns of rigid and ceremonial behavior” (p. 8). The symptoms caused by OCD could be so debilitating that the individual afflicted can no longer function with day-to-day commonalities. Individuals who suffer from OCD are often prone to anxiety and devote significant time to challenges associated with their condition which negatively impacts their relationships and daily routines (p. 8).
Margolis (Ed.) (2002) stated that OCD is the “recurrent, repetitive thoughts (obsessions), behaviors (compulsions), or both that a person recognizes as unreasonable, unnecessary, or foolish yet are intrusive and cannot be resisted” (p. 99). People with OCD do not necessarily have both obsessions and compulsions. They may have one or the other. Obsessions are recurring thoughts of fear of germs or mistakes and/or harming oneself or others. Compulsions differ from obsessions in that they are repetitive actions of rechecking the same things over and over such as windows, doors, locks, refrigerators, appliances, washing of hands, and so on. The largest percentage of people diagnosed with OCD are those in their early adulthood (p. 99). Although this disorder may be hidden using other nonproductive agents like addictions to alcohol or drugs, it can lead to depression.
Because various research and data proved the differences between anxiety disorders and OCD, the DSM-V removed OCD from anxiety disorders and placed it in its own category as ‘Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders’ (Ameringen, Patterson, & Simpson, 2014, p. 487). For example, Marker and Aylward (2012) found that OCD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) were not synonymous because OCD has more negative outcomes. GAD is generally anxiety and worry about everyday situations, whereas the thoughts and worries, that come with OCD, are more detrimental to one’s health such as incongruities about one’s life. In contrast, people diagnosed with GAD generally do not use compulsions to rid their continuous thoughts (p. 6). Thus, the decision was made to give OCD “its own chapter” (Ameringen, Patterson, & Simpson, 2014, p. 487).
With OCD becoming OCRD, various other disorders with similarities have been grouped into the category such as “body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), trichotillomania (TTM-hair-pulling disorder), excoriation (skin-picking) disorder, hoarding disorder, substance/medication-induced OCRD, OCRD due to another condition, and other specified OCRDs” (Ameringen et al. 2014, p. 487). The researchers concluded that having one of these diagnoses does not rule out all others and that practitioners should recognize that these are related disorders and not “subtypes” (p. 492).