First, repeated doubts about the correctness of their words and actions, knowing that there is no need, want to control, however, can not control. For example: when going out, doubt whether the door is locked, although checked once, twice, three times ……, or uneasy.
Second, repeatedly thinking about some things in daily life or natural phenomena, knowing that there is no realistic meaning, want to control, but, can not control, can not get rid of. For example: Why is the color of the leaves green and not other colors?
Third, when an idea or a phrase appears in my mind, I can’t help but associate it with another idea or phrase. For example, when you think of “peace”, you immediately associate it with “war”.
Fourth, the recurrence of vivid visual experiences in the mind, often of a repulsive nature, is impossible to get rid of.
Fifthly, the patient’s consciousness is repeatedly filled with things that he or she has experienced and cannot get rid of, and he or she feels distressed.
Sixth, the worry and disgust about certain things, which one knows are unnecessary or unreasonable, cannot be got rid of. For example, worrying that you will hurt others, worrying that you will act irrationally.
Seventh, repeatedly experiencing a strong inner urge to do something against one’s will, knowing that it is absurd and impossible to do so, and trying to control oneself not to do it, but being unable to get rid of this inner urge.
Eighth, the measures taken by the patient to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessive suspicion. For example, repeatedly checking whether the doors and windows are closed when going out.
Ninth, the patient often repeatedly washes his hands, bathes, or washes his clothes in order to eliminate the fear of contamination by dirt, poison, or bacteria. Even the person with whom he lives must also wash thoroughly according to his requirements.
Tenth, the patient often does not believe in himself, and in order to eliminate the anxiety caused by doubt or exhaustion, he often repeatedly asks others to give explanations and reassurance.
Eleventh, some recurring actions, others seem to be unreasonable scourge ridiculous, but can alleviate or prevent compulsive ideas caused by the anxiety. For example, when going out, take two steps forward and then one step backward before walking out the door.
Do you have OCD if you have the above mentioned compulsive symptoms?
No.
Diagnostic criteria
To diagnose OCD, in addition to meeting the symptom criteria, the following conditions need to be met.
(1) The obsessive-compulsive symptoms originate within oneself and are not imposed by others or the outside world.
(2) Recurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, which one knows to be meaningless and feels unpleasant or even painful, and, therefore, attempts to resist, but does not work.
(3) Impaired social functioning.
(4) The above for at least 3 months.
(5) Exclusion of obsessive-compulsive symptoms secondary to other psychiatric disorders; exclusion of organic diseases, especially those secondary to basal ganglia lesions.
The diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder can only be made if the requirements of the above dimensions are met.
Treatment plan
1.Psychotherapy.
In general, patients with milder OCD can only use psychotherapy, while patients with more severe OCD can use a combination of interpretive psychotherapy and medication to obtain better results.
First: Eliminate the “stigma”.
Many patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder take the formal psychological diagnosis and treatment as a kind of shame, that only “mental abnormalities” will go to the psychosomatic medicine department to see “heart disease”, this phenomenon in the medical field this psychology is called ” This phenomenon is called “shame” in the medical field, which seriously affects the treatment of OCD. Only by eliminating the “shame” can we achieve timely and effective treatment. Second, the correct treatment, cognitive and behavioral adjustments.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is not terrible, the key to treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder is to have a correct understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder, eliminate insecurity, uncertainty, suspicion and tension, establish confidence to overcome obsessive-compulsive disorder, and actively cooperate with the treatment. Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder should make a conscious effort to overcome capriciousness, impatience, aggressiveness, insecurity, uncertainty and other personalities, think in a different way, change the overly stereotypical and overly serious way of doing things, and do not drill too hard. Again, try to be imperfect.
Compulsive disorder patients should admit and accept that they have the possibility of making mistakes, and should not be too harsh on life, on learning, the pursuit of extreme perfection can only be counterproductive. At the same time, when looking at the problem, we should learn to compare relative, not too absolute. Finally, to divert attention, adjust the state of life.
Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder should learn to relax themselves, do things they are more interested in, actively participate in a variety of cultural and sports activities, adjust their life state, when the compulsive ideas or behaviors appear, you can choose to pinch yourself to interrupt their thoughts or behavior, do what they were supposed to do, the process of change is painful, the effect is also slow, but there are changes to get better and better.
2.Medication.
Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder is mainly the use of some antidepressant drugs, but in the use and dosage is slightly different from the treatment of depression. Clomipramine is a more classic treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder drugs, commonly used dose 150-300mg / d, divided into 2 times to take, generally 2-3 weeks to begin to show results. It is important to start with a small dose, and those who are ineffective in about 4-6 weeks can consider changing or combining other drugs, and the treatment time should not be shorter than 6 months, and some patients need long-term medication. As the side effects of clomipramine are relatively large, at present, there are safer drugs such as fluoxetine, paroxetine, fluvoxamine or sertraline available clinically, and the clinical effect is basically equivalent to clomipramine with fewer side effects. In addition, benzodiazepines can be combined for those with severe anxiety; for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder, mood stabilizers such as carbamazepine or sodium valproate or small doses of antipsychotics can be combined and may achieve some efficacy.
Finally, what I would like to say to patients and their patients’ families is.
1, trust your treating physician: physicians, like you, also hope that you can quickly take effect, or even completely get rid of the disease, no physician hopes that he or she can not cure the patient’s disease, but everything is a process, can not be too hasty.
2, do not repeatedly read the drug instructions: some patients or family members see the drug instructions after getting back the drug written on many drug side effects, so worried about taking the drug is not good for the body and refuse to take such drugs. From a specialist’s point of view, this is a completely unnecessary concern. The side effects recorded on the drug’s instruction sheet are the adverse effects observed when the drug is tested on different people, and it is unlikely that all of them will occur in one person. Once the adverse reactions as long as the timely contact with a specialist, is completely manageable.
3, do not listen to the patient’s opinion, adjust the program and drugs: Although the saying “long illness into a doctor”, but, compared with professional physicians, long-ill patients also know very little, drug treatment please under the guidance of a professional doctor, do not change the treatment plan as you wish. Some patients or their family members, in order to get rid of the shadow of mental illness as soon as possible, as if not taking medication is satisfied with the disease, when the symptoms are relieved to stop taking medication. This practice is dangerous and often leads to relapse of the disease or to drug withdrawal reactions caused by sudden discontinuation of medication. If this happens many times, it may cause obsessive-compulsive disorder to persist and convert to chronic intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder. At that time, it will be too late to regret.