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| Sunday, 25 May 2003 |
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by Umangi de Mel Just how many times do you check if your books are properly sitting on the table? Or have you an irresistible urge to go and check for probably the umpteenth time? Does your weird behaviour take up a lot of time, disrupting the normal routine of school work and social life? Obsessions and compulsions are things we all experience to a certain degree but some experience them thrice the amount a normal person would do. That's the time to be concerned. "Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is when a person gets caught up in a recurrent thought, impulse or a behaviour," says Ranil Abeysinghe, Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Peradeniya. He says that the severity of it doesn't let a person escape from the disorder even if the affected person is aware of the fact that such behaviour is not normal. OCD is an anxiety problem that cause severe emotional pain or inability to function because of an abnormal amount of obsessions and compulsions. Symptoms There are two main features: * Obsessions, * Compulsions Obsessions are thoughts, images or impulses that recur in one's mind. Even though they might seem futile and absurd to the person he can't stop them. It causes agony and anxiety. "The person is fully aware that these images and thoughts are created in his mind but may not be able to quit," Dr. Abeysinghe says. Compulsions are actions taken to curb anxiety by doing things over and over again. OCD is usually detected in teenagers. An obsessive personality would be a perfectionist who is rigid and intolerant of others' mistakes. Always going by the book, he/she can also be very religious. They look for order in life and lack the ability to put up with chaos. "Lots of school teachers and government bureaucrats have obsessive personalities. Yet they are very useful and reliable people," he says adding that the problem is their inflexibility that makes ordinary life very stressful to them. "These people are often troubled with unusual fears and impulses. Many human beings have slight tendencies which is normal but if it's recurrent and takes all your time, then it's a disorder," he says. Our shrink says that there's a large component of inheritance in OCD. It apparently affect the so called well behaved, studious children. "The goody-goody type is more likely to get it," he says and cracks, "Of course to be a good student in Sri Lanka, you've got to be slightly obsessive." Most children who spend lots of time studying trying to be punctual and those who demonstrate obsessive traits in their behaviour automatically become good students. "But unfortunately they are more prone to be affected," he points out. He reveals that parents have features of OCD in them. "They may not be suffering from it, but they can be people with obsessive habits." Calling them `perfectionists' Dr.Abeysinghe says that these obsessive personalities have a slight genetic component that they can produce children who end up suffering from the disorder. "Some children learn certain habits from their parents. Parents contribute a lot to their child's OCD by trying to control their natural behaviour," he reveals. OCD can be controlled at an early stage, if it's detected on time. "If you realise that your behaviour is odd, you should be able to regulate it on your own, eg. If you notice that you wash your hands repeatedly, stop doing it," he advises. All those perfectionists out there can allow themselves to get acquainted with some imperfections. "But if it's gone too far, then you should seek help. There are specific methods in which you can cure OCD. Changing some of the brain mechanisms that make them do weird things, with medication is one way. Behaviour Therapy is the other one," Dr. Abeysinghe says. He reveals that people with OCD are more likely to be depressed. There's a relationship between the mechanism that causes OCD in the brain that also contribute to depression. "After all, a little imperfection is not a bad thing in life," he says. |
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