Psychology of obsession

Every person has different habits. Some of them are positive, others are negative. But problems start when those habits become out-of-control, abnormal, in other words – when they become obsessions. Psychologists engage obsessive thoughts with compulsions which are caused by those thoughts. This phenomenon in psychology is called obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).

OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety, by repetitive behaviours aimed at reducing anxiety, or by combination of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour. It is the fourth-most common mental disorder and is diagnosed nearly as often as asthma and diabetes. There are different kinds of OCD, for example repetitive hand–washing, extensive hoarding, preoccupation with sexual or aggressive impulses, or with particular religious beliefs, aversion to odd numbers, nervous habits.

The factors which cause OCD may be both psychological and biological. In 14th – 16th centuries in Europe it was believed that OCD sufferers are obsessed by the Devil because people didn’t know what OCD is. But in 20th century Sigmund Freud attributed obsessive-compulsive behaviour to unconscious conflicts which manifested as symptoms. The cognitive- behavioral model suggests that compulsive behaviour is carried out to remove anxiety-provoking intrusive thoughts. Unfortunately this only brings about temporary relief as the thought re-emerges. One of the biological factors which cause OCD could be the abnormalities with the neurotransmitter serotonin, although it could be either a cause or an effect of these abnormalities. A possible genetic mutation may contribute to OCD, as well as abnormal brain development and subsequent malfunction. All these causes aren’t analyzed sufficiently and there is still research being done on this topic.

People who suffer from OCD have to deal with many different difficulties. They experience sneers from other people, annoyance, they waste precious time and have difficulties in their social life, communicating with others. Of course, a positive person could find some benefits of this situation. For example, if a person suffers from repetitive hand-washing, his/hers hands are always clean. But in general the obsessive-compulsive disorder is a terrible thing which can’t be healed and can only be treated a little in difficult and patience requiring ways.



Weight obsession



References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_disorder
- http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/smt/lowres/smtn252l.jpg