#10: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a condition where patients have irrational fears in general that causes them to produce repetitive behavior to relieve anxiety.  Said patients combine thoughts, otherwise known as obsessions, with behaviors or compulsions and frequently repeat themselves on a daily basis so much that it hampers a regular day.  Common symptoms of OCD patients are repetitive hand washing, a need for even numbers, unnecessary hoarding, a need for cleanliness etc.  Patients diagnoses with the disorder typically alienate themselves and are socially unfit to interact with the environment so much that individuals might not be able to hold certain jobs or perform certain tasks due to their irrational fears or paranoia.

As can be noted of other psychological disorders, those who had irrational obsessions in the past were thought of being possessed or controlled by the devil, so earlier records are harder to interpret fiction from reality.  One of the first cases of OCD was documented by the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud in 1910 who believed that obsessive-compulsive behavior was prevalent because a patient had unconscious conflicts that they are unable to deal with so they divert these conflicts into compulsions.  He also believed that these obsessions stemmed from childhood experiences where behaviors were either lauded or stigmatized so the individual learned to either repeat their behaviors or correct themselves before attempting the behaviors.  Symptoms of OCD are common in the American population and are also quite prevalent in countries across the globe.   In many ways, OCD creates a moment of temporary utopia when a patient sees a potential dystopia such as filthy hands.  To relieve the stress and prevent the dystopia, the patient will wash their hands and seek a utopia where their fear is banished.  However, said relief is only temporary and could possibly considered to be a heterotopias in the action of washing hands because there is no said place for it and yet it exists out of normal time.

The following clip demonstrates how devasting this disorder can be from a first hand perspective.

Works Cited:

M. A. Jenike; Baer, L.; & W. E. Minichiello. Obsessive Compulsive Disorders: Theory and Management. Littleton, MA: PSG Publishing, 1986.

Spitzer, Robert L. DSM-IV-TR Casebook: a Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub., 2002. Print.