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This is a project for a High School AP Psychology course. This is a fictionalized account of having a psychological ailment. For questions about this blog project or its content please email the teacher Chris Jocham:

jocham@fultonschools.org

OCD

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by repetitive inner thoughts that cause fear, nervousness, and an array of obsessions and compulsions.

Cause

• The causes of OCD are unknown but it is agreed to have to relate to psychological and biological factors

Biological Causes

• OCD is believed to be caused by an abnormal level of the neurotransmitter Serotonin

• Serotonin is believed to control anxiety• This disorder may also be caused by a

possible genetic mutation

Obsessions

• These are thoughts that continue to linger and/or repeat in one’s head over and over again.

• These thoughts occur no matter how much the sufferer tries to ignore them

Compulsions

• These are the repetitive actions that someone with OCD may continue to do no matter how much they resist

• This includes rituals that are formed to either prevent an anxiety-causing event from happening or to remove the event from their thoughts (hand washing, etc.)

Treatment

• Behavioral Therapy and other adverse Medications may be used to treat Obsessive-Compulsive disorder

Behavioral Therapy

• This therapy involves slowly getting the OCD sufferer to learn to tolerate the anxiety he/she feels by stopping the completion of any repetitive compulsions or rituals

Medication

• Medications include SSRI’s which are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.