Other Medical
Conditions With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder it is not uncommon for a person to suffer with other anxiety disorders or depression, a direct result of the OCD. These all fall outside of our scope of expertise, but in this section of the website we take a basic look at some of these medical conditions with resource information for further research.
If you feel you might also be affected by any of these medical conditions we strongly urge you to address this with your GP.
In this section we also take a look at Schizophrenia because many people with OCD often have a fear that their OCD is the beginning of Schizophrenia.
Depression
Depression is one of the most common conditions in the UK, affecting one in five people at some stage in their life. The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2020 depression will be the biggest global health concern after chronic heart disease.
It is characterised by a persistent low mood which affects the ability to carry out effectively almost any everyday activity. It is more than just feeling 'down', and it cannot be cured by simply ‘pulling yourself together’ and often leads to isolation – you may not feel able to go out, friends and family may find it hard to cope and do not stay in touch.
The symptoms of depression can include the following:
Low mood.
Lack of interest in and pleasure
from usual activities and interests.
Poor attention and concentration.
Suicidal ideas and feelings.
Feelings of guilt or shame.
Feelings of worthlessness
or hopelessness.
Disturbed appetite, usually
associated with weight loss or weight gain.
Disturbed sleep, often causing
waking in the early hours of the morning and a feeling of being unrefreshed
by sleep.
Depression is not something you can just "snap out of." It's
caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals, along with other factors. Like
any serious medical condition, depression needs to be treated.
You can help improve your mood, which should have a positive effect on depression, by ensuring that you get lots of daily sunlight, eat a healthy balanced diet and get regular, undisturbed sleep.
Emetophobia
Let’s be honest – who out of any of us enjoys throwing up? It’s not a nice experience for anyone. However, for some people the fear of vomiting, seeing other people vomit or just seeing vomit is so great it can stop them from doing simple things like enjoying a meal in a restaurant or enjoying trips out with family and friends.
It’s the sixth most common phobia, but surprisingly little is known
about the condition. The word Emetophobia is derived from the Greek word
"emetos" meaning vomiting and "phobos" meaning fear.
Most emetophobics have to try and control everything they see and do to
fit in with their fear. These behaviours are very similar if not the same
in most emetophobics. There may be frequent hand washing, unable to eat
in public or be seen eating by anyone else.
Some emetophobics are incorrectly diagnosed with an eating disorder, because the nature of the condition means that they can eat very little or have a very restricted diet (sufferers may be phobic about eating certain types of food or avoid foods that are of a particular colour).
Emetophobes have adopted many of the same coping strategies as people who suffer from OCD. Door handles may be opened using sleeves, tissues, gloved hands etc, toilets flushed by using their feet instead of their hands and anything that has to be eaten using the fingers - for instance, sandwiches - can be eaten down to where the fingers have touched the food then discarded.
Treatment for Emetophobia can be more difficult than OCD – though it uses much the same principles; gradual exposure to the thing the sufferer fears most.
Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are often confused as they are thought of as being similar. There is, however, a great difference between the two conditions.
Persons with OCD experience tremendous anxiety related to specific preoccupations, which are perceived as threatening. Within the condition of OCPD it is one's dysfunctional philosophy which produces anxiety, anguish and frustration.
Additionally, someone with OCPD might be more likely to parade their obsessions, become proud of what they are doing. Those with OCD would rather that no-one ever finds out.
The essential feature of the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is a preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency. Individuals with OCPD are conscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about morality, ethics, or values. They may force both themselves and others to follow rigid moral principles and very high standards of performance. They are inclined to be severely rigid and stubborn in outlook, whilst also pedantic about doing the right thing. These individuals are deferential to authority and rules. They insist on literal compliance, regardless of circumstances (DSM-IV, 1994, pp. 669-670).
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are extremely frightening. They may appear to come out of the blue, strike at random and make people feel powerless, out of control and as if they are about to die or go mad. Many people experience this problem, but many also learn to cope and eventually to overcome it successfully.
When panic attacks are experienced out of the blue without an apparent trigger, this is classified as panic disorder.
Sufferers of panic disorder often feel fine one minute, and yet the next may feel totally out of control and in the grips of a panic attack. Panic attacks produce very real physical symptoms from a rapid increase in heartbeat to a churning stomach sensation. These physical symptoms are naturally unpleasant and the accompanying psychological thoughts of terror can make a panic attack a very scary experience. For this reason, sufferers start to dread the next attack, and quickly enter into a cycle of living 'in fear of fear'.
Schizophrenia
Many people with OCD often have a fear that their OCD is the beginning of Schizophrenia.
Right up front we want to get across the message that a person with OCD does not have a higher risk of becoming Schizophrenic.
Schizophrenia happens differently for each person, but usually involves a dramatic disturbance in thoughts and feelings.
The features common to many cases of schizophrenia are:
Delusions (abnormal beliefs
not based in reality).
Disordered thought based on
the delusions and hallucinations.
Abnormal behaviour in response
to the other three features.
Hallucinations (the sensation
of an experience that isn’t actually happening).
People with schizophrenia are very rarely dangerous to other people. Most who have the illness are vulnerable and withdrawn and more likely to hurt themselves than others.
Self-Harm
Self-harm, a.k.a. self-inflicted violence, self-injury, is when a person deliberately hurts or injures him/herself in order to deal with unpleasant or overwhelming emotions, thoughts or situations. Incidents of self-harm are not normally fatal in themselves; however, they usually indicate that the person is deeply distressed and needs a great deal of understanding and support.
Although cutting and burning are the most common forms of self-harm, it can take many forms, including taking overdoses of medicines or tablets, punching yourself, throwing yourself against something, swallowing non-edible items, damaging your skin or pulling out your hair.
Contrary to the belief held by many people, self-harm is not usually a suicide attempt.
Self-harm is much more common than people realise since many self-harmers are ashamed of it and hurt themselves in secret and also many self-harmers never ask for or receive counselling or medical help. Evidence suggests that self-harm is most common in young people over the age of 11, and increases in frequency with age, although there is evidence of younger children trying to harm themselves (but this is rare). Figures suggest that self-harm is 3-4 times more prevalent among women than men, and more common among young adults than any other age group. Estimates are that 2-3% of girls will make a serious attempt at self-harm at some point during their teenage years. People vary hugely in the number of times they self-harm and in the gaps between incidents of it. Some self-harm only once or a few times and then stop once the problem causing it is resolved; others may have long periods between bouts and then have several instances in a short space of time when under severe stress; others harm themselves on a more regular basis.
Back
to Top ^ | Homepage
| E-mail this page to a friend
OCD-UK is a non-profit making charity and not associated with any other
organasation.
Medical information is provided for education/information purposes only, you should obtain further advice from your doctor. Any links to external websites have been carefully selected, however we are not responsible for the content of these third party websites.
Copyright © 2004-2008 OCD-UK. All rights reserved.
WC3 XHTML 1.0 Validated | WC3
CSS Validated | Sitemap
| Accessibility
