Why Do Some People Develop Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Submitted by Sarah Mellors on Fri, 10/20/2006 - 11:26pm.
As the child of a man whose acute Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is the dominant force in his life, and consequently, having grown up in a very unnatural, controlled environment, when deciding on a top for this paper, I dared to delve into the enigmatic world of mental illness. I thought writing on this disorder would be both interesting and would help unlock the secret behind my father’s abnormal behavior. It would also help me understand why, up until now, I have exhibited only mild symptoms of this condition, and if the disorder is in fact hereditary, what this means for me in the future. In order to answer these questions, an in depth examination of the disease is needed.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of many anxiety disorders, mental conditions that result in chronic fear and uncertainty in the victims’ minds. Anxiety disorders plague 40 million American adults, while OCD alone affects 2.2 million Americans (1). If anxiety disorders are left untreated, which they often are, symptoms can become increasingly worse. People with OCD experience persistent upsetting thoughts or worries (obsessions) and use rituals or repetitive behaviors (compulsions) to relieve their anxiety (2). OCD patients often experience repeated thoughts and images where they feel out of control and may even worry that they have harmed another person (3). Depending on the person’s fears, OCD can manifest itself in different ways. The most common symptom is an obsession with germs or dirt that results in repeated hand washing. Paranoia about intruders can lead to locking and relocking of doors and windows. Other common signs include repeatedly checking things, counting things, doing things in a particular order, or hoarding and refusing to dispose of old possessions. However, a person with OCD doesn’t necessarily have to partake in any of these rituals. In the most extreme cases of OCD, victims are unable to attend to their responsibilities and perform the tasks of daily life because they are so preoccupied with their rituals. What makes OCD so unique is that, according to studies, people with the disorder do not get pleasure out of doing these rituals; they carry out these actions to placate their anxiety (3).
It’s interesting for me to read what all the medical journals and online sources say about OCD because I can imagine my father performing the described rituals in my head as I read. However, his case is one of the extreme ones that is more difficult for doctors to understand. For example, my father follows a very strict regime everyday, doing everything in the same exact order; any interference with his daily routine will send him into a state of shock. If a person interrupts him while he’s going through his routine, he becomes very angry, agitated, and uncomfortable. He prefers to be alone as much as possible and lives on an isolated farm, where he has minimal contact with other people. OCD and clinical depression often go hand-in-hand, so it is likely that my father’s antisocial behavior is partly due to depression. My father, interestingly, does not exhibit many of the typical symptoms of OCD, such as frequent bathing and hand washing, or a need to constantly count things in a certain order. However, he does hoard possessions and hasn’t thrown out anything in about 30 years. It is easy to see how OCD can be misdiagnosed since many of its symptoms are characteristic of other mental illnesses; it’s taken me my entire life to figure out what exactly makes my father behave the way he does.
How can someone with OCD be treated? According to the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, OCD is “underdiagnosed” and “undertreated” because many doctors are unfamiliar with the symptoms of the illness (3). No laboratory test exists for this disorder . Moreover, people with OCD often have trouble admitting that they have extreme anxiety or are unaware that their behavior is abnormal (3). However, if someone is diagnosed with OCD, several different methods of treatment can be implemented. The first is Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy through the use of a technique called Exposure and Ritual Prevention, where individuals gradually overcome their fears and learn that they do not need to perform certain rituals. The second method of treatment involves taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) along with tricyclic antidepressants. Studies show that OCD is usually the result of communication problems between the orbital cortex and the basal ganglia, two parts of the brain that rely on the chemical messenger serotonin to transmit signals. With the help of SSRIs, the serotonin is able to bind to the neurons’ receptors so it can help regulate excess anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Studies show that, “SSRIs seem to be the most effective drug treatments for OCD, and help about 60% of OCD patients, but do not ‘cure’ OCD” (2). In other words, medications that increase one’s serotonin levels can address the symptoms of OCD, but can’t make the disorder go away. Although the use of SSRIs or Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy seems to be an effective treatment for OCD, from doing research on this topic, it is clear to me that much about the disease is still unknown.
Why do some people develop this disease and not others? Is it genetic? Does the disease run in families? In my case, I wonder: Why did my dad develop this condition and not me? Will I acquire OCD in the future? Up until recently no specific genes for OCD had been identified, but scientists were looking for a link between genetics and OCD (3). However, two recent studies on the association between genes and OCD have illuminated a possible cause of the disease: a glutamate transporter gene called SLC1A1. This gene encodes a protein called EAAC1, which controls the flow of glutamate in and out of brain cells. According to an article in HealthDay News, “Variation in the SLC1A1 gene may cause changes in the flow of glutamate, which may put a person at increased risk of developing OCD” (4). The identification of the SLC1A1 gene marks a milestone in the search for the cause of OCD. If the close relationship between this gene and OCD is confirmed, dramatic improvements in the understanding and treatment of OCD can be made (4). With regard to the heredity of OCD, research shows that OCD does tend to run in families, though family members often times develop different symptoms from the disease (3). According to the HealthDay News article, “Close relatives of people with OCD are up to nine times more likely than other people to develop OCD” (4). Clearly, heredity plays an important role in the development of OCD. In my case, the fact that such a close relative of mine has OCD greatly increases my chances of getting it. Because symptoms can emerge at any time between age 3 and 40, I still have more than twenty years in which I am likely to develop the disorder (3).
Researching and writing this paper has helped elucidate a lot for me about Obsessive-Compulsive disorder. However, it has also made it apparent that much more research about this disease needs to be done before a foolproof method of prevention and treatment can be obtained. As of right now, scientists have only made ripples in the vast, dark ocean of mental illness, and nothing has been confirmed about the cause of OCD. I hope, for my own sake and for the sake of the millions of Americans who either have OCD or will be afflicted with it in the future, that the isolation of the SLC1A1 gene for OCD will lead to great strides in the study and treatment of this disorder.
World Wide Web Sources
1) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/ocdmenu.cfm The National Institute of Mental Health’s website with a special section on OCD
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive-compulsive_disorder A Wikipedia Encyclopedia article, “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.”
3) http://www.ocfoundation.org/ The Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation website with a discussion of OCD
4) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/new/fullstory_36909.html A HealthDay News article entitled, “Genetic Findings Shed Light on OCD.”
hey..
im only 12 and i know what ur going threw my grandma has the same thing and i know that it hurts
That must be what my father has,he has a thing about chaos
He has a thing about his whole house being in perfect order noone can't even use the cups because he has an order to that. He expects me to read his mind and know his set up.
I tried to talk to him now older myself. To have a system with the cups according to what type plastic or glass. Shape and size and color a map something!
But he acts like a child with a tantrum and says no!
It's very hard but I think he might do more obsessive things behind closed doors than I realize.
OCD causing false reports to law enforcement
Are you aware or able to name sources, where OCD sufferers called authorities to prevent dangers? Where they report illusive situations in detail, although none of it ever happened. If so, please let me know.
It is so hard
I am 19 years old and I have OCD, I was diagnosed at age 12 with this lifechanging disorder. I used to count things over and over again or if I touched something with my right hand I had to touch it with my left hand. I still to this day have obsessive thoughts but I try to control them and most times I do, I also have extreme paranoia and like to be in an isolated setting or only around very few people. I also have bodydysmorphic disorder. I wish I could be a normal young adult and not have these thoughts consume me and somewhat hender my ability to function normally. I understand that everyone in this world has or will have their burdens to bear and this may be miniscule to something in someone else's life, but in my life it is killing me. I feel so dead and alive like I am just going through the motions but yet I am so motionless. I wish there was an answer to this other than someone saying here let me dope you up on some medication and take your money, but money is what it's all about. If anyone has some answers or wants to talk about their issues get back at me
ocd
I have been suffering with this crap forever now. It started at about twelve,I'm 33 now. At 18 I finally went to the psych for some help. They gave me anafirnil,it didn't work,so I started self medicating with over the counter stimulant called (max alert). I was totally addicted to this stuff for 8yrs. It raised my blood preasure so bad I was put on medicine to reg.that promblem. I then had to get myself off the one thing that kinda help me feel good from time to time and not have so many terriable thoughts of hurting some innocent old woman or young child,which I know I would not do,but those intrusive thoughts are always there,they never stop.Every minute of every waking day they are there driving me crazy. I just want to be happy and live my life like everyone else,but I can't...Well A few years ago my wife and I had a beautiful son,I wanted to be able to be a good dad for him,espacially since I was left at 6 mos.old by my father. So I go to the shrink again and get myself put on the highest dose of zoloft they will prescribe 200mg. It seems to work somewhat,but the intrusive thought still wear me down,and tring to be a great dad a small business owner and great husband feels almost impossible with this constent anixity. I really would like to say thanks for listning,people without this disorder just can't understand the dreadfulness of this crazy disorder.
I hope you're well
I think I know what you are going through. I have a mild case of OCD and sometimes have similar thoughts as you described. My brother has a severe case of Paranoid OCD. He is the reason that I am doing this research. I read about Orthomolecular Treatments and will be doing some test runs with and for him.
My advice to you is to be strong and you'll make it. You have a child now and he needs you to be strong too. Good Luck!
i dont know if anyone has
i dont know if anyone has the same ocd as me, but almost always im aware of my breathing and i feel that im out of breath. or even ill blink a lot and not be able to stop. i want to know if anyone has the same problems as me
ocd and breathing
Yes, I can relate to always thinking about my breathing and feeling out of breath. I also feel like I can't take a deep breath most of the time. I have been to two doctors and the ER, had chest x ray,blood tests and heart test,all normal. I have had OCD for as long as I can remember but never had this symptom until the deaths of three family members in a ten month time span.I guess the stress of it just set this off in me. I notice if I focus more on breathing out than in it helps and making myself slow down my breathing helps.Hope we both get past this soon.
WHAT CAUSES OCD
I am very familiar with OCD as my husband has had OCD for many years. We have been married for 10 years and it has been very hard and stressful for me to see him going through hell. I am a pharmacist and I am interested in finding an answer to this horrendous illness as it controls all the family (we have 2 children). He hasn't been able to work for over 2 years know and as you know you can't get any help from anywhere. I mean real help NOT drugs.
We have been trying different remedies and supplements. the one which seems to help most is the use of powder Inositol in high doses. that calms him down. It is very safe and the only side effect is flatulance. Not bad if you compare it with SSRI's. 5HTP it has help but you need to take from 100mg to 300 mg a day as you might be quite depleted in Serotonine. Magensium Taurine is helpful to calm you down and for tension. Glutamine, Rhodiola rosea, Gingko biloba, Omega 3's. All these supplements try to get good quality otherwise it won't have any effects.
I just wanted to tell you that I have done a lot of research on the subject and after reading a number of psychiatric books and analysing my experience I can tell you that OCD is not genetic, it may have a predisposition factor, due to the fact that people with ocd seem to be very nice people and very sensitive. They feel too much and they get hurt to the core of they soul. The real cause of ocd is traumatic circunstances and a combination of peculiar parents. A detached father and over the top mother that deep down is detached from the feelings of the child. This gives the child a lack of self steem, self worth, confidence, and a lack of security that eventually will create deep anxiety, the more traumatic circumstances the more anxiety and worse the symptoms. I am pretty sure that ocd is a chemical imbalance caused by life events. Probably in the chilhood. It would be interested to know how people with ocd feel about their parents, how happy were as a child. I really believe people with ocd should be made aware of this. This is not an excuse to blame the parents but if this is the case to be aware of the cause it will be make people aware what not to do with children. I am 100% sure that a child with a happy childhood with loving and caring parents will NEVER develop ocd. I will love to hear from your experiences and stop feeling guilty IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. I can see why it runs in families, not because it is genetic but because people copy behaviour from the parents! Which is the cause. I can tell you that it has taken me more that 6 years to understand this as the subliminal messages from my mother in law and my father in law are very suble but always aim to make my husband guilty or so lucky for anything. What they really want is to get rid of the problem they created in the first place because they can't feel and can't feel any sympathy towards their son. Is all in the surface. If you met them you would think they are the sweetest people on the planet, but that is the problem they are not human. An they expect the children to be perfect and no express any emotions.OCD is caused from a lack of security, nurture, love and not have being able to express their feelings in a healthy way growing up. A child has to learned that is ok to feel and that mum and dad loves them even if they express their feelings. Otherwise the child becomes very escare of his own feelings and develops a part of the brain that never should have develop due to suppression of feelings. When you analyse OCD you realise is all to do with feelings. They feel so anxious and they don'y know what to do with themselves that is why they create the compulsions due to the obsessions because the child never was able to experience with feelings in a safe and healthy way. The longer they do that the more depleted the brain gets due to the anxiety as this burns and uses so much more neurotransmiters. I am sure I will help my husband to recover from this dreadful illness but please don't take all the information you read about reasearch as gospel. Use your intelligence and experience. When a research it has been done spondsor by drug companies what you expect the result is going to be? My parents in law love the genetic cause that way it is nothing to do with them beacuse they this algels that almost levitate. They couldn'y possible done anything wrong!
RE: what causes ocd
omgoodness, you are so right. I wasn't diagnosed with ocd until I was 23, but have suffered since I was a child. And everything you said about parents is how i felt about mine. Although, I do believe my mother is ocd. She just has different symptoms than I do. I know she was not treated the way she needed when she grew up as well. So it is just this vicious cycle. Until now, I have children of my own. And it almost seems that my ocd plays a part in making sure that i show them enough love and that i nurture them enough. And that everything is equal and fair. But then I have read that that is not good for me to do. I am so confused.
However, I love the feeling that they know I love them so much.
I have obsessive thoughts and depression
Dear TD, I agree with your theory about childhood and lack of self esteem, trauma,anxiety and parents. My father was too busy with work and going to the club. My mother was under the thumb of her mother and did not relate to me. Her mother was a tyrant and used my mother like a puppet. My grandmother would discipline me as if she were my mother, she actually potty trained me. She, my grandmother would get my mother and the other children to laugh at me when I would cry. I remember being depressed as early as the second grade. I felt inadequate compared to the other children. My brother was four years older and good at sports. As I tried to compete with him I felt like less than a man. Consequently when I was going through puberty I questioned my sexuality. I always loved the girls and had my first girl friend in sixth grade. I would get very aroused when petting with my girlfriends. Feeling very insecure and lacking self esteem I have become obsessed with thinking that I'm homosexual. I lived with a fantastic woman when I was in my late twenties for five years, then a second woman for another five years and now my wife for nine years. In spite of having fantastic sex with woman I still have this obsession and depression most of my life.
About thirteen years ago I was put on 100mg of zoloft and within a week I was cured of my severe depression and obsession with sexuality, it was a miracle. I was free to live a normal life after over thirty years of torture. Well after a few years the depression and obsession started to come back. But I was married and had a good job which gave me some self esteem.
Two years ago I noticed that I could not control my temper. One day my temper was so bad that I cursed at the boss and got fired.
This really put me into a depression, I tried to work again but only lasted a few months. I felt so sick with flu symptoms all the time on top of the depression.
I found a holistic doctor and he did a hair analysis which revealed that I had lead poisoning. After more than 80 chelations we think the lead is out of my system. I have not worked for almost two years and have been very depressed with thoughts of suicide.
My obsessive thoughts are as bad as ever and leave me feeling that I want to end my life. If it was not for my wife and son I know that I would not be here. I am now seeing an Orthomolecular Psychiatrists and I hope he can help me.
TD.
?
i am 20 years of age and i feel like i have mild OCD but im not sure.
i constantly have recurrcing obbessions and compulsions that i feel i must do. And they occur every single day without out me thinking of them. its things from double checking that everything is switched off even if i or nobody else has used it and i sometimes need to stare at it to make sure its switched off. i recheck things in my car such as the handbrake is up, its in park and even at atimes just a whole inspection of the car to make sure it is all good. All my life i have had negative thoughts and feelings of my self and felt cranky, moody and sad and i cant even explain why. i will also do things a certain way because i am afraid something will happen. i remember when i was about 12 i kept my clothes in the wardrobe in the same way and never threw anything out or moved it in a different spot because i was afraid something bad would happen. i learnt to overcome that and i can now move things around and throw most things out. all though it takes me a while to get rid of things coz i think they will come in handy. i have stupid thoughts that pop into my head like " I must redo all the washing i just hung or eat the last noodle in my bowl, my handbag must be zipped in my car eveytime i drive or something bad will happen. I am constantly washing my hands and just feel like my hands are dirty after nearly everything i touch. i constantly think of germs and get afraid of other peoples germs and they contimanitating me. All these feelings and thoughs happen everyday day. i just feel so angry, moody, low about my self and my confidence, easily upsetted, and feel as though people are constantly critising, judging and watching me and what ever i need to say isnt as important or interesting as the next. sometimes i feel so low about life i just want to cry that i dont know whats wrong and why i feel this way.
i know these thoughts, feelings and actions are not normal. But i honestly dont know what is wrong. Ive read about OCD and parts of it sound like me.But i need to know if its a possibility otherwise i dont have the time,patience, or courage to see someone for help. Can anyone relate to this or know, what is wrong?
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