Obsessive-compulsive disorder

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a problem that some people have. A person who has obsessive-compulsive disorder is called an obsessive. Often, obsessive-compulsive disorder is shortened to "OCD".

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has two parts. "Obsessive" means that people worry a lot about things. They worry about things that most people would not worry about. For example, they might worry that they might leave their oven on and start a fire. Or when they are driving, they might worry that they might run somebody over by mistake but not notice.

"Compulsive" means that they try to ease their worry by doing things over and over again. So if they worry about leaving the oven on, they might look at the oven over and over again. If they worry about having run somebody over, they might look in their car's mirror to make sure the person is OK.

Many people worry a little bit about these things. But OCD can become a problem when it takes up a lot of time. A person might spend several hours checking their oven over and over again. Then they cannot do other things with that time. Often people with OCD think that they are crazy. That makes them worry more. They may think that, because they are crazy, they cannot trust what they think. Then they feel they have to do more things over and over again. However, it has been proven that people with OCD cannot go crazy, because they know that these thoughts they have are wrong.

We are not sure what causes OCD. Some people think that it is a problem with the brain. Some people think that it is something that people learn, which goes wrong later on.

Some of the most common things people with OCD feel they must keep doing include washing hands, checking things, and buying or collecting a lot of the same items. Other people have thoughts they cannot stop, which keep going around in their heads. These are called ruminations; people with ruminations do not always repeat actions as well.

Anyone who thinks they might have OCD should see a psychiatrist. A regular doctor can set up an appointment. The psychiatrist might suggest medication (pills); or help the person accept the thoughts and not keep doing the compulsion over and over. The thoughts might decrease as a result.