ocd: symptoms & features

Question 1

what is OCD?

Answer 1

• an anxiety disorder which is characterised by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions

Question 2

what are obsessions?

Answer 2

• a persistent, irrational, unwanted thoughts

Question 3

what are compulsions?

Answer 3

• the tasks people do to relieve themselves of the obsessions

Question 4

what are symptoms of ocd?

Answer 4

• by the diagnostic criteria for ocd listed by the dsm 5
• the obsessions cannot be ignored and cause anxiety and/or distress. sufferer may try to consult the obsessions by the performing of compulsive behaviour
• obsessions and/or compulsions are time-consuming (take up more than one hour per day) and/or cause clinically significant distress and/or impairment to daily life
• symptoms cannot be explained by substance use or another medical condition or other mental disorder such as generalised anxiety disorder
• they should find out if the individual has a current/past history of a tic disorder as this can affect the severity of the disorder

Question 5

what are the features of ocd?

Answer 5

• onset: mostly the age of onset is late teens and early twenties, but it can start earlier or later - in 25% of male sufferers, before the age of 10. symptoms usually develop gradually, but sometimes there is a sudden, acute onset
• prevalence: prevalence rate is between 1.1 and 1.8 percent of the population. in adults, ocd is more common in females than in males. however, in children, it is more common in males than females
• prognosis: symptoms usually develop gradually, but in some cases they can be extreme from the outset. although treatment can reduce symptoms, about 70% of people experience a chronic and lifelong course, with worsening and improving symptoms. about 5% have episodic symptoms with partial or complete remission between episodes. regardless of a person’s age at onset, the content of obsessions does not determine prognosis. the factors associated with good prognosis include the following: milder symptoms; brief duration of symptoms; good functioning before full onset
• risk factors: factors that may increase risk of developing or triggering ocd include: family history (having parents or other family members with disorder can increase risk of developing ocd). stressful life events (people who have experienced traumatic or stressful events or who tend to react strongly to stress may have increased risk of getting ocd)
• culture: ocd occurs across cultures at a similar rate and shows similar age of onset and comorbidity with other disorders. there is similar symptom structure involving hoarding, taboo thoughts and symmetry, however there are regional differences suggesting that cultural factors can affect nature of symptoms