Fit & Proper: Is OCD getting the better of you?

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Divya Sharma (name changed), 32, is a copywriter at an advertising agency. For the last few years she has found that every time she writes a sentence, she reads and re-reads it over and over again. If she finds one spelling mistake, she feels compelled to delete the entire sentence and type it out again. At night, after brushing her teeth, she counts till 20 before she puts her toothbrush back. She also tries to ensure that it stands in a particular position, else she keeps struggling to place it that way while the minutes tick by. There is a fear lurking in her mind that if she doesn't do these things, her family might come to some harm. Try as she might, she is unable to break these patterns or shake off these thoughts. As a result, she now takes longer to finish her work and is often high strung and anxious. Sharma suffers from what doctors call OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is a psychological illness characterised by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted thoughts that intrude the patient's mind against his or her wish. The person suffering from such an illness realises that the thoughts are meaningless, excessive and irrational but cannot control them. The more he tries to control these thoughts, the more persistent they become. These thoughts cause distress and anxiety to the patient. To relieve this anxiety or distress, the patient is compelled to perform certain acts, and these are known as compulsions. These acts may be physical or mental. (Around the world there are millions of people affected by this anxiety disorder).

OCD can have different themes. For example, it may be related to religion, such as having blasphemous thoughts. Or, it may be related to cleanliness - the person may feel that everything is dirty or contaminated and might go on obsessively cleaning things. Such a person may take excessively long to bathe or might indulge in rituals like washing the hands repeatedly and still not being satisfied that they are clean.

QUICK TIPS

• OCD is a treatable condition and there are good medicines available for it. But the first challenge is to recognise that you suffer from OCD.
   
• If you find yourself having irrational thoughts and giving in to irrational patterns or actions - like repeatedly washing hands, overzealous cleaning, counting, or arranging and rearranging things - consult a doctor.
   
• Counselling and behaviour therapies are helpful.
   
• There are newer treatments available like transcranial magnetic stimulation of brain. Sometimes surgeries might also be required in resistant cases.
   
• People suffering from OCD should seek professional help from a psychologist or psychiatrist as soon as possible because this illness is very distressing.

Sajid Ali Khan
Consultant psychiatrist, Kohinoor Hospital, Mumbai