Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Psychology considers it a disability that afflicts the patient with obsessions that always accompany the patient and occupy his consciousness and feelings, and he cannot forget them or escape from them, so they continue to haunt him and suddenly pop up in his mind whenever he forgets them, interrupting the flow of his normal thoughts. It keeps repeating itself and repeating itself. Obsessive disorder may be preceded by: either a state of severe tension and anxiety, or depression.

The Latin roots of the word (obsessions), obsidere, mean: (besieged), like a city besieged by an army, an image that summarizes the condition of someone suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sir Aubrey Lewis, considered one of the greatest psychologists, noted in 1935: Most cases of obsession involve one of the themes: filth, obscene thoughts, harm, or blasphemy.

In the West, filth: most common, is the idea that hands are dirty. Accompanied by a picture of germs or dirt. In response to these obsessions: compulsive washing. Unnatural, painful and persistent. Then there are the abnormal, lustful thoughts that the patient is not accustomed to, such as homosexuality, incest, and the like, and these thoughts continue to haunt him day and night. Then there is harm to oneself or others, which are thoughts that urge the patient to throw himself from a height, or swallow things that harm him, kill himself or others, and put poison in their food, and he becomes obsessed with those thoughts that he cannot expel from his head. Then there is religious (blasphemy), and it ranges from: inappropriate thoughts about God (which the patient cannot ward off), and (abnormal) remorse of conscience: that the patient is negligent in his acts of worship, or has committed an unforgivable sin, or for fear that his ablution or prayer will be compromised. It is incomplete or broken, and God is angry with him.

There is research that suggests that obsessive disorder is caused by a disruption in communication between the front part of the brain (responsible for assessing danger) and the deeper areas of the brain (which control thoughts). The brain uses the hormone "Serotonin" as a mediator between the two regions. Research indicates that a lack of serotonin isolates the two regions from each other, so fear dominates the brain due to the lack of criteria for assessing the degree of danger. Medicines (Prozac, for example) that increase the flow of serotonin in the brain help.

Test for obsessive-compulsive disorder:

1. Do you have fears of contamination (dirt, germs, chemicals, radiation) or contracting a serious disease such as AIDS?

2. Do you suffer from an obsession with memorizing or counting things (clothes, tools, things) or organizing them completely?

3. Do you think about death or similar events?

4. Do you have religious or sexual ideas that you reject?

5. Do you worry about fire or disasters befalling you?

6. Are you always worried about getting into an accident with your car?

7. Are you worried about losing something valuable?

8. Do you worry about physically harming a loved one, or a stranger, or performing an inappropriate sexual act?

9. Do you frequently check your light switches, faucets, stove, door locks, or brakes?

10. Do you avoid touching things or people?

11. Do you check for signs of illness in your body?

12. Do you avoid certain colors (‘red’, for example), numbers (13, for example, bad luck), or names (those beginning with M, for example, meaning death) that are associated with painful events and thoughts?

13. How much of your time do these thoughts or behaviors occupy each day?

14. How difficult is it for you to control her?

15. How much does it hinder you from performing your duties and living your life normally?

Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder:

1 - Stop the obsessive thought: If the obsessive thought attacks you, occupy yourself with anything that distracts your mind from that thought, such as singing, drawing, or doing something that requires you to focus on it.

2 - Know the difference between truth and imagination: Learn to distinguish between obsessive thoughts that force you to perform compulsive actions, and normal doubts. For example, if you suspect that you prayed fewer rak’ahs than the correct one, apply the percentage to your doubts, for example, how many percent do you think you prayed less? If the percentage exceeds 50%, it is possible that your doubts are correct, but if the accuracy of your doubts is less than 50%, then they are just whispers. Differentiating between obsessive and normal thoughts is the first step in treatment to raise the conscious awareness that these intrusive thoughts are symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

3- Reprogram your mind: Repeat: “This is just an obsession,” whenever a thought persists, which will increase your resistance to the obsessions, and you will begin to distinguish between what is real and what is sick.

4- Know the disease: Treatment begins with knowing that obsessive disorder is a psychological disease, that it is no different from phobia and depression, and that there is a treatment.

5 - Confront obsessions firmly: Train yourself to say: “I suffer from obsessions, and the matter is not real.”