I'm “compulsive” and I love it!
It calms me down to put things in order!
It makes me happy when people tell me I have the cleanest house!
It relaxes me when I take meticulous care of my hygiene!
Is it bad to be “compulsive”?;
The answer is NO!
It's okay to be compulsive when this characteristic doesn't make our daily life or those around us difficult. It's okay to be compulsive if it doesn't interfere with our decisions, our peace of mind, our schedule, and our sleep. (If you want to learn more about quality sleep see the article: Tips for a good and refreshing sleep). On the contrary, one might say that it is legitimate to take care of our personal hygiene and the cleanliness of our home, it is effective to keep our notes in order so that we can write well in our exams and it is safe to check that we have closed the house properly. Even being slightly superstitious about “the black cats” or “the lucky t-shirt” doesn't make us compulsive, it's just normal and often shaped by our culture and the way we were raised.
But what about those times when we HAVE to do these things because we are afraid that something bad will happen to someone or because if we don't do them we can't calm down?;
In this case we need to pay more attention to our «compulsive» self, as it ceases to be a simple will for neatness, cleanliness and protection. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is a psychiatric disorder that greatly affects our functionality within the simplest and most mundane demands. It can, for example, prevent us from sleeping if we don't ensure that all the refrigerator items are in the right place, eating if we don't wash our hands a certain number of times, going to work by the nearest road because there is a cemetery on the route, and more.
A key feature of OCD is «obsessions». By obsessions we refer to all those negative ideas, thoughts, impulses and doubts that come automatically into our minds, involuntarily. These thoughts are capable of causing us great confusion, fear and anxiety, as we believe they have the power to hurt another person or lead us to make wrong decisions. Often, we view these thoughts as inappropriate and offensive to those close to us or to the Divine, which causes us immense shame and guilt. Whatever form the obsessions take, they are capable of making us feel great anxiety and fear, guilt, worry and a general malaise and confusion. It is understandable that we feel this way because of our strong sense of responsibility, since we believe that our thoughts alone are enough to cause something bad.
In fact, our phobias do not come from a real danger, but are products of our thinking. If you're having similar thoughts, you're not alone... seek help from the certified psychologists at myTherapist.
This is where the «compulsions» come in! That is, all those behaviours that aim to neutralise the above thoughts. They are the actions that we take in order to make sure that none of our “problematic” ideas will come true and thus to relieve ourselves. Compulsions can take two forms: manifest and implicit. In the manifest form we have the manifest rituals, such as washing my hands 15 times before eating or having all things in place before I leave the house. In the second form are all the mental thoughts that cannot be observed by a third party. Such an example is having to count inwardly to 12 before crossing the street. It is possible to make compulsions without the corresponding obsessions preceding them. For example, I have to place objects vertically on my desk, otherwise I can't relax and I get stressed. In this case, the compulsions do not function as mechanisms to neutralize an unwanted thought, but they still cause discomfort and stress if they are not fulfilled.
«Yes, but, I've had them for as long as I can remember and I've learned not to let them affect me.
Also, who can guarantee me that if I stop them, no harm will come?»
In fact, OCD is not just an unwanted thought that goes away with a particular action. It is capable of greatly disrupting our effectiveness in the simplest things, as our decisions and behaviors are controlled by our negative ideas. Both our automatic thoughts and our actions become repetitive and obsessive, causing us to feel a great deal of stress and anxiety throughout the day. We can't enjoy even the simplest moments, we are critical of ourselves, we try to do everything perfectly, and we constantly feel responsible for everything. In fact, OCD, especially when it is chronic, has been shown to be linked and often co-exists with Anxiety Disorders, Eating Disorders and Depressive Disorders. If you are interested in learning more about the symptoms of depression, see the article: What is depression.
Trust the psychotherapeutic process and let the mental health experts help you discover together the causes and ways to manage OCD.
Bibliography
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- Bloch, M. H., Landeros-Weisenberger, A., Rosario, M. C., Pittenger, C., & Leckman, J. F. (2008). Meta-Analysis of the Symptom Structure of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(12), 1532-1542.
- Goodman, W. K., Grice, D. E., Lapidus, K. A. B., & Coffey, B. J. (2014). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 37(3), 257-267. doi:10.1016/j.psc.2014.06.004
- Stein, D. J., Costa, D. L. C., Lochner, C., Miguel, E. C., Reddy, Y. C. J., Shavitt, R. G., ... Simpson, H. B. (2019). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 5(1). doi:10.1038/s41572-019-0102-3
- Richter, P. M. A., & Ramos, R. T. (2018). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, 24, 828-844. doi:10.1212/con.0000000000000603
- Romero-Sanchiz, P., Nogueira-Arjona, R., Godoy-Ávila, A., Gavino-Lázaro, A., & Freeston, M. H. (2017). Differences in clinical intrusive thoughts between obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and hypochondria.Clinical
