OCD: treatment and classification

Some people, struggling with obsessive doubts, are able to arrange multiple cross-checks. Moreover, they can be associated with the most diverse aspects of life: ensuring safety, daily duties at work or at home. In an effort to eliminate insecurity, such people come back several times to check whether the gas is turned off, the tap is well closed, or is the door locked? This condition is characterized in medicine as OCD. The treatment and characterization of this ailment require a more detailed study.

Pathology Description

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is also called neurosis of obsessive conditions. This disease is a complex set of behavioral manifestations.

Such ailment is characterized by all kinds of regularly recurring actions, obsessive thoughts. They cause a lot of inconvenience in everyday life. That is why a person who is diagnosed with OCD, treatment is extremely necessary.

Pathology may begin suddenly. This ailment can manifest itself in any person, regardless of age and gender. The risk group includes people with a high level of intelligence. They observed a complication of thought processes. As a result, the conceptual apparatus is expanding . And this leads to a complication of conscious control over many processes.

Obsessive disorders have been known since ancient times. Around the 4th century BC e. OCD was called melancholy. In the Middle Ages, this disease was called obsession. OCD was classified as schizophrenia, paranoia, psychopathy, and manic-depressive disorders. Today, the disease is considered a type of psychosis.

Main reasons

What mechanisms underlie the development of this disorder has not been fully established. However, doctors put forward several hypotheses that can lead to OCD. Treatment, which is based on the elimination of putative factors, brings patients quite effective relief.

So, biological factors can lead to the appearance of OCD:

• pathologies in the autonomic nervous system;
• birth injuries;
• History of TBI;
• features of the transmission of impulses to the brain;
• impaired metabolism, in which the concentration of dopamine is reduced and the level of serotonin is increased;
• drug addiction;
• brain damage (previous meningitis);
• chronic alcoholism;
• infectious processes with complications;
• genetic predisposition.

In the development of pathology, not the least role is played by psychological and socio-social factors:

• life-threatening stress;
• hyperprotection of parents;
• psychological trauma suffered in childhood;
• strict religious education;
• family psychological trauma;
• work under stressful conditions.

Disease classification

Many researchers did not consider it necessary to distinguish between manifestations of pathology. They argued that classifying obsessions is difficult. After all, phobias and compulsions join them. Nevertheless, there are several classifications of OCD, the treatment of which is currently being carried out quite successfully. Consider them.

According to the characteristics of the course of the disease, pathology is distinguished as follows:

1. A disease with a single attack. The duration of the disease can last from 1 week to several years.
2. Recurrent disease. The alternation of moments of complete recovery and repeated attacks is characteristic.
3. Continuous disease. Pathology proceeds constantly, over time, symptoms increase.

If we consider the classification according to ICD-10, then the following types are distinguished:

1. Obsessive thoughts, thoughts (obsessions) - F42.0.
2. Annoying rituals, compulsive actions - F42.1.
3. Mixed relentless actions and thoughts - F42.2.
4. Other obessive-compulsive disorders - F42.8.
5. Unspecified OCD - F42.9.

The obsessive feeling of fear manifests itself in quite a variety of ways. It is commonly called a phobia. This condition is accompanied by autonomic disturbances (pulse increases, sweating appears) and inappropriate behavior. A person understands the obsession of fear, but can not cope with it.

The most common phobias :

• claustrophobia - fear of enclosed space;
• agoraphobia - fear of open spaces;
• gypsophobia - fear of heights;
• misophobia - fear of pollution;
• xenophobia - fear of strangers;
• sociophobia - fear of communication.

There are many different types of personality disorders that are characterized by inappropriate behavior. Some people constantly expect danger, they are afraid of failures. Others come back all the time and experience the events that happened earlier. An obsessive state can be extremely stable, and sometimes even criminal.

Characteristic symptoms

Before considering the treatment of OCD, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the main signs of the disease. As a rule, they arise at the age of ten and are formed towards the 30-year mark.

The main symptoms are:

1. Obsessive painful thoughts. Such reflections can be in the nature of blasphemy, sexual perversions, fears of reprisal, thoughts of death, illness, loss of material wealth. Such thoughts make a person terrified. He is aware of their baselessness, but cannot cope with them.
2. Anxiety. The patient is constantly experiencing an internal struggle.
3. Repeated actions, movements. They can manifest themselves as a constant recount of steps, frequent washing of hands, and rearrangement of objects in any order. Some people form their own storage system and strictly follow it. Compulsive checks can manifest as multiple return home to check if the gas, light, and doors are closed.
4. Obsessive slowness. A person performs daily business extremely leisurely.
5. The severity of the pathology is amplified in places with a large number of people. There is disgust, fear of infection, nervousness, fear of losing things. Such people most often avoid crowds.
6. Decrease in self-esteem. Similar violations usually occur in suspicious people. Such persons seek to keep everything under control. However, they cannot overcome their fears.

Possible complications

Why is OCD dangerous? A disease whose treatment is not started in a timely manner can lead to the following consequences:

• Depression
• increased anxiety;
• isolation;
• excessive addiction to tranquilizers, sleeping pills;
• suicidal behavior ;
• alcoholism;
• Conflict behavior in professional activities and personal life;
• eating disorders;
• deterioration in the quality of life.

Features of pathology in children

Violations may appear in the child.

Characteristic symptoms in children:

• repeated movements: tics, twitching of the shoulders, sniffing, wrinkling of the forehead, coughing;
• a feeling of fear of piercing objects, an enclosed space, a fear of staining clothes;
• fear of death, illness, loss of a loved one;
• contrasting obsessions, cruelty, rudeness, immorality.

If OCD is diagnosed in a timely manner in children, treatment can completely eliminate the negative symptoms. The disease in a child is reversible.

Methods of combating pathology

The treatment of OCD is quite successfully carried out in Moscow, in many clinics. Regardless of the institution chosen, the main points of therapy are:

• psychotherapy;
• drug treatment.

Psychological approach

Behavioral therapy affects a person’s actions. Cognitive-behavioral influences the thought process and rituals.

For the treatment of OCD, the following methods are used:

1. Preventive actions. They are aimed at gradually opposing fears, obsessive thoughts. The patient is taught not to succumb to the need to perform annoying actions. Such therapy is most often more effective than a stress management technique.
2. Switching thoughts. The patient is taught negative thoughts to replace with positive.
3. Therapy of disgust. To get rid of obsessive behavior, pain stimuli are used.
4. Implosion. This is a method in which the patient repeatedly interacts (examines, touches) with an object that provokes fear in him.
5. Stopping unpleasant thoughts. Man is taught the art of stopping the flow of negative thoughts.

Drug therapy

Without connecting drugs, it is almost impossible to have such a pathology as OCD, treatment. The drugs included in the therapy are selected exclusively by the doctor, taking into account the degree of progression of the disease.

Medication may include:

1. Antipsychotic drugs. These are the medicines “Risperidone”, “Quetiapine”, “Haloperidol”, “Olanzapine”, “Aripiprazole”, “Clomipramine”.
2. SSRI. This group includes antidepressants Fevarin, Prozac, Serlift, Serenata, Zoloft, Torin, Plizil, Paxil, Rexetin, Cipramil, Cipralex, Elicea ”,“ Selectra ”,“ Lenuxin ”.
3. With a mild degree of anxiety, “Mebicar” and “Etifoxin” preparations can be prescribed.

Lifestyle

Is it possible to fight pathology on our own? How effective will treatment be with an ailment like OCD? It is quite difficult to fight independently, without the help of competent specialists.

But if the pathology does not progress, good lifestyle changes will give:

1. Reduce your alcohol and caffeine intake.
2. Eat regularly.
3. Go in for sports.
4. Take a massage course.
5. Stop smoking.
6. Normalize your rest and sleep patterns.

Folk remedies

Before resorting to such therapy, coordinate it with your doctor. Treatment of OCD with folk remedies can bring excellent results.

The following recipes are used to combat the disease:

1. The roots of the temptation pour alcohol (70%) in a ratio of 1:10. Insist remedy for a week. Use 2-3 times a day for 30-40 drops before meals. The tool is effective for neurasthenia, depression.
2. Leaves and dry ginseng roots pour boiling water in a proportion: 1:10. Use 3-4 times a day for 1 tbsp. l The tool calms, tones the nervous system, fights with depressive states.
3. Herbal infusions are useful: chamomile, linden, valerian, hop cones, oats, ginseng.

Patient Reviews

Many people who are faced with unpleasant manifestations of the disease that interfere with a full life, seek to find an effective treatment for OCD. Reviews of some patients who have pathology in the initial stages show that you can cope with the disease yourself. To do this, they force themselves to eliminate repetitive movements, to throw obsessive thoughts out of their heads. In addition, people who testify of positive results are using drug therapy.

Patients who have a pronounced form of OCD claim that it is almost impossible to cope with the disease without the help of a psychologist. Only an integrated approach helps to eliminate unpleasant symptoms. The beneficial effect is provided by psychological assistance, drug therapy and folk remedies.