1. What is it
1.1. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder, isolated by recurring and persistent intrusive thoughts, that produces restlessness, apprehension, fear or worry, and repetitive behaviors called compulsions, aimed at reducing associated anxiety.
1.1.1. It is divided in two
1.1.1.1. Obsessions: they are ideas, thoughts, images or recurring and persistent impulses that are egodystonic, that is, that are not experienced as produced voluntarily, but rather as thoughts that invade consciousness and are lived as exaggerated or meaningless, sometimes as disgusting . The patient makes attempts to ignore or suppress them, sometimes without success. It is then when compulsive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety motivated by obsession are launched.
1.1.1.2. Compulsions: they are repetitive, generally "capricious", and apparently finalistic behaviors that are carried out according to certain rules in a stereotypical way and whose main function is to reduce the anxiety caused by obsession. Behavior is not an end in itself, but is designed to produce or avoid some event or future situation, related to the obsession in question, so its implementation reduces the anxiety caused by the latter.
2. Characteristics
2.1. Patients with OCD tend to have common characteristics: high demands, high performance expectations, low tolerance for error, constant criticism, extremely strict rules, customs and compliance rules that generate tension, need for control and doubt.
2.1.1. Some of the most frequent obsessions are: Contamination and contagion: fear of catching or infecting other people. Thus, for example, they do not touch the handrails of the buses, or nuisance of body excretions, including their own. Sexual: unpleasant ideas or images regarding sexuality, ideas of incest, homosexuality, and forbidden desires. Aggressive: fear of hurting others or yourself. Religious: excessive concern for good, evil and morals. Need to confess. Symmetry: need to always put the objects in the same place, order, perform movements in an exact and repetitive way.
3. OCD treatment
3.1. The clinical research and experiments that are carried out have generated information that has shown that the use of both pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments can benefit the person to live with OCD and control both obsessions and compulsions, but, in in any case, this will allow you to overcome the pathology definitively.
3.1.1. Psychotropic drugs
3.1.1.1. Various clinical tests have shown that those drugs that affect the neurotransmitter serotonin can significantly reduce OCD symptoms. The first psychotropic drug approved for the treatment of OCD was the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine.
3.1.2. Behavioral Psychotherapy (Exposure with Prevention of Response, EPR)
3.1.2.1. It is effective for many people with OCD, especially those with behavioral rituals. Through this method the patient deliberately or voluntarily confronts the feared object or idea, either directly or with the imagination. At the same time, the patient is encouraged to avoid their rituals with support and means provided by the therapist, and possibly by others recruited by the patient to assist him.