Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Often referred to as the secret illness, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a condition where a person will experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome thoughts, which will usually cause the person to carry out repetitive behaviours.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts, or obsessions resulting in compulsive behaviors and mental acts that the person feels driven to perform, according to rules that must be applied rigidly, aimed at reducing anxiety stemming from the intrusive thoughts.

Compulsions may include touching or checking things repeatedly until the anxiety diminishes. In severe cases, OCD affects a person's ability to function in everyday activities. Such a person may take several hours a day to carry out the compulsive acts. Also, the psychological self-awareness of the irrationality of the disorder can be painful.

OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder and is diagnosed nearly as often as the physiological ailments asthma and diabetes mellitus. In the United States, one in 50 adults has OCD. The phrase "obsessive-compulsive" has become part of the English lexicon, and is often used in an informal or caricatured manner to describe someone who is meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed in a cause, or otherwise fixated on something or someone. Although these signs are often present in OCD, a person who exhibits them does not necessarily have OCD, and may instead have obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) or some other condition.