Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a kind of chemical disorder that affects the brain resulting from many factors. It is in short the need to do something and redo it for several times just because you’re not sure about it. It’s the dying urge to clean your hand or shower again and again. It’s the wild fake necessity to clean your house over and over and over. It’s when you can’t stop staring at the picture on the wall because it’s titled by one micron! Sure, sometimes this necessity or behavior can be commendable and good, but most of the times, it can be really annoying to the person in question and to the people around him/ her. This disorder was perfectly depicted in the TV Show “Monk”, where Tony Shalhoub (Lead Character) is a hygienic fanatic and a systematization maniac. So, the sufferer here feels compelled to do irrational and distressing behaviors. In this Hub, we will shed light on this disorder with some details.

 The main problem of this disorder is the ignorance of its reality, thus, correct diagnosis is the start to the cure because lots of OCD patients don’t know they have chemical brain disorder. In some studies about OCD people in the US, a patient might spend almost nine years trying to figure out a cure pursuing inaccurate approaches before they can get the right diagnosis and treatment. On the other hand, the patient seems to be intimidated to tell anyone about his/ her disorder, fearing that people would think of them as crazy. Also, the patient thinks that this disorder is not an illness; rather, all their actions are correct especially if those actions are linked to some behavioral disorders like washing themselves many times, or cleaning the door knob a hundred times…etc so, this person doesn’t require any consultation because he/ she doesn’t need that!

 One of the problems that face the patient’s family is how to deal with his/ her OCD. Some try to deal with it rationally, some with anger, some with despair and so on. But those reactions may aggravate the problem because things get more complicated when defying and arguing the patient. So, it’s important for the family to understand the correct way of dealing with an OCD person, otherwise, this conflict might lead to divorce, estrangement or break up. Some might lose their jobs or even their friends therefore ending up in total separation from everyone.

Perhaps it is difficult for the patients to treat themselves, especially when the OCD person tries to confront the issue, and it’s not easy to cope with the reality of having OCD. But, this is an unavoidable pain, so the patient needs to know that OCD will not disappear if left in the grip of time for time alone will not heal anything! Treatment can be tough at the beginning but will get easier after a while and will fade away gradually. Plus, those compulsive, un-controllable thoughts will vanish until they become worthless to the patient. So, to start the treatment, we need courage and perseverance.

 It’s very important for the patient to adhere to the medication prescribed by a specialized therapist like: Prozac for instance, where this drug increases the ratio of Serotonin Inhibitor in the brain, which eliminates the negative thoughts, and helps the brain regain its normal activity. Side effects of this drug are minimal and disappear when not using the drug. So, there is no fear of addiction to it and the patient can quit anytime. However, this drug needs some weeks to start the positive healing process and here resides the dilemma because the patient is always on a hurry due to an intolerable anxiety and depression; hence, this will lead the patient to stop the treatment. So, what we need in this stage is persistence, and the patient shall not stop medication until told otherwise by the doctor or all the previous efforts will just diminish to ground zero.

 Recent studies conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Shwartz, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), confirm that if OCD is left to time without proper treatment, it will worsen the patient’s condition and lead to a psychological deterioration and depression and finally isolate the OCD person from the outside world. What we need here is to understand OCD properly and to create a positive climate to encourage the patient.