Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: What is it and What are the treatments? What is obsessive - compulsive disorder? Obsessive - compulsive disorder (OCD) is defined as an anxiety disorder. People with OCD suffer from recurrent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or rituals (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed in hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary …

…The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing. New York: Dutton, 1989. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. Washington, DC: America Psychiatric Association, 1994. National Institute of Health. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. NIH Publication No. 96-3755, September 1996. Osborn, M.D., Ian. Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998. Plus various web-sites. Such as: http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/33.cfm http://www.ocdfoundation.org http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/ocd.cfm