Learn to perceive and treat obsessive compulsive disorder



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Are you sure you have locked the door before you leave? If this question makes you feel uncomfortable to the point of wanting to make sure of it, this may be a sign of obsessive compulsive disorder, also called OCD, which, according to the WHO, is one of the 10 leading causes of work disability or interpersonal relationships. Dr. Antônio Geraldo da Silva, director of the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry, says the disease can disrupt or prevent the performance of daily activities:

– Patients with this disorder have uncomfortable thoughts or impulses that carry the spirit, that is, obsessions. They can also develop repetitive rituals, which are compulsions. These feelings are related because obsessions cause a type of anxiety that is relieved only with the completion of compulsions, always with repetitive acts and always done in the same way – comments.

A study from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) indicates that there are about four million people with the disease in Brazil. The report says 15 symptoms that can be understood as fads, but that are signs of the disorder, such as repeating a task multiple times to make sure you will not go wrong, that you will be superstitious with numbers colors, dates or places and you will have trouble getting rid of old paper, empty boxes, shoes or old clothes.

The UFRGS study indicates that the family and their relatives can participate in the treatment by supporting or identifying secret rituals not perceived by the patient himself, by drawing up lists of rituals and avoiding the elements to to avoid.

The obsessions that can cure the thoughts of those who suffer from OCD are many and the doctor Antônio Geraldo da Silva explains that the patients recognize the origin, but that they can not do anything to prevent the compulsions:

Normally, those who suffer from the disease recognize that these thoughts are illogical or foreign to their will and often try to resist, however, without success. The most common impressions are dirt or contamination, the fear of having forgotten an open door or stove gas connected, rituals of washing or cleaning, checking, counting, storing, among others – explains the director of the APB.

The doctor, who is also president of the Latin American Psychiatric Association, explains that each patient may exhibit different symptoms at different time intervals. According to him, one of the ways to deal is not to give in to obsessions, although it is difficult.

– The patient with OCD needs an badessment done by a psychiatrist to diagnose the disease and recommend appropriate treatment. The intensity of symptoms usually varies with time, and some people may intersect periods with obvious signs and others without any clues. There are those who suffer constantly, but to varying degrees. However, it is possible to stabilize the manifestations with medications and therapies such as cognitive-behavioral, which exposes the patient to thoughts that annoy him, cause him pain, discomfort, sadness or any another negative feeling – recommend it.

With treatment, symptoms are usually not eliminated. But between 40 and 60% of patients get a significant reduction in their quantity and intensity. The specialist explains that the cause of the disease has not yet been proven and that children can also have symptoms:

– Some research badociates OCD with genetic characteristics. This theory is further illustrated by the manifestation of disorder at any moment of life, from preschool to adulthood. It is known that 25% of cases begin before the age of 14 and that 80% of patients identify the onset of symptoms before the age of 18 – ends.

* Trainee under the supervision of Renata Izaal

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