OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a condition that affects the mental wellness of 1 in every 100 people, and occurs when thoughts, or compulsions, get stuck in your mind and eventually cause so much anxiety that you felt an overwhelming urge to repeat certain rituals or behaviours to cope with it. This can affect a person’s overall wellbeing, and steal time and energy away from other activities, which can damage family wellness too.
Chief health and medical correspondent for ABC News, Dr Richard Besser, held a tweet chat last week to better understand this puzzling condition, with mental health experts from the from the Mayo Clinic, the National Institute of Mental Health and the International OCD Foundation as well as scores of OCD therapists and sufferers.
The first surprising OCD fact that came out of the chat was that the disorder starts early. According to Dr. Jeff Szymanski, executive director of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), said there are two peaks of OCD, one between the ages of eight and 12, and another between 18 and 22, and boys are more likely to be affected at an earlier age than girls. Paediatric anxiety disorder specialist Chelsea Ale said that the onset may actually be even at the age of four or five, as ‘When people are diagnosed as adults, they usually report having had it since childhood’.
There may also be a genetic component to OCD, as it can run in families and is common among first degree relatives and even identical twins. The third surprising fact was that there may be a link between strep throat and OCD, as kids who contract strep throat can also develop paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatry disorders (PANDAS) which is one of the symptoms is OCD. According to Christopher Sarampote, the chief of the prevention and treatment trials at the National Institute of Mental Health, the disorder has been recognized by the institute and research there is ongoing.
Surprising fact number four is that family involvement with OCD can backfire if understanding and accommodations lead to enabling. Ale warned, ‘Trying to help avoid anxiety-provoking situations makes the world smaller and smaller and keeps OCD cycle going.’
However, the final, and most important, fact of all that was revealed is that you can conquer OCD. Szymanski tweeted, ‘One estimate is that as many as 40 percent of individuals with OCD have never receive any treatment at all.’ Yet he said that exposure and response prevention – ERP — is the gold standard for treatment and can reduce symptoms by as much as 80%. One sufferer tweeted, ‘Seeking help for OCD was smartest decision I made. OCD can be defeated. I’m living proof’.
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