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People with OCD have obsessions, compulsions, or both. These symptoms can interfere with all aspects of life, such as work, school, and personal relationships.
Obsessions are repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety. Common symptoms include:
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that a person with OCD feels compelled to do in response to an obsessive thought. Common compulsions include:
Not all rituals or habits are compulsions. Everyone double-checks things sometimes. But a person with OCD generally:
Some individuals with OCD also have a tic disorder. Motor tics are sudden, brief, and repetitive movements, such as lip movements and eye movements, grimacing, shrugging, and jerking of the head or shoulders. Common vocal tics can be repetitive throat–clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds.
Symptoms may come and go, relax over time, or worsen. People with OCD may try to ease their condition by avoiding situations that trigger their obsessions or using alcohol or drugs to calm themselves. Although most adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing doesn’t make sense, some adults and most children may not realize that their behavior is out of the ordinary. Parents or teachers typically recognize OCD symptoms in children.
OCD is a common disorder that affects adults, adolescents, and children all over the world. Most people are diagnosed by about age 19, typically with earlier onset in boys than in girls, but onset after age 35 does happen.
The causes of OCD are unknown, but risk factors include:
Genetics
Twin and family studies have shown that people with first–degree relatives (such as a parent, sibling, or child) who have OCD are at a higher risk for developing OCD themselves. The risk is higher if the first–degree relative developed OCD as a child or teen. Ongoing research continues to explore the connection between genetics and OCD and may help improve OCD diagnosis and treatment.
Brain Structure and Functioning
Imaging studies have shown differences in the frontal cortex and subcortical brain structures in patients with OCD. There appears to be a connection between OCD symptoms and abnormalities in certain brain areas, but that connection is unclear. Research is still underway. Understanding the causes will help determine specific, personalized treatments to treat OCD.
Environment
People who have experienced abuse (physical or sexual) in childhood or other trauma are at an increased risk for developing OCD.
In some cases, children may develop OCD or OCD symptoms following a streptococcal infection—this is called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). For more information, please read this fact sheet on PANDAS.
OCD can respond to medication, psychotherapy, TMS, ketamine, or a combination of these modalities. Although most patients with OCD respond to treatment, some continue to experience symptoms. While the administration of TMS and ketamine differs, both can be fast-acting and highly effective for various anxiety disorders.
Regarding advanced anxiety disorder treatment in Boston, Cambridge Biotherapies™ is the top TMS and ketamine therapy provider. These treatments are more effective than conventional medications for anxiety in patients that have not responded to previous medication trials. Both treatments address the brain areas most commonly associated with anxiety and depression. Ketamine works chemically, while TMS works electromagnetically to rewire the brain, diverting regions and actions linked with anxiety disorders.
Sometimes people with OCD also have other mental disorders, such as general or social anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphic disorder, in which someone mistakenly believes that a part of their body is abnormal. These accompanying disorders must be considered when making treatment decisions. Contact us today to get started on your journey to healing.
