Obsessive
Compulsive
Disorder (OCD)

Diagnosis

Obsessions and compulsions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, and actions that are felt as disturbing and illogical to the person. These occurrences cause marked anxiety or distress beyond normal concerns. The behaviors are responses to trying to alleviate anxiety. The person experiencing the obsessions and compulsions is aware of these as being atypical behavior and is frequently disturbed by their occurrence. Being stuck, anxious, and rigid are characteristics seen in individuals with OCD. (See characteristics for more specific descriptions of obsessions and compulsions.)

The obsessions or compulsions interfere with daily functioning or cause such anxiety as to make functioning very stressful. There is a time consuming factor that can interfere with life functioning in real time. The OCD is not due to the direct effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., a brain injury).

Prevalence

The prevalence of OCD is estimated at 2-3% of the population, and in the United States, 3-5% of children and adolescents are estimated to have some type of anxiety disorder. Thus, 3.3 million Americans may have OCD and 28 million Americans may experience some form of anxiety disorder. Disorders affect males and females alike but have a 2:1 ratio, female to male. The entire group of anxiety disorders is the most common complaint in the mental health field. Two-thirds of OCD individuals suffer some form of depression during their life. Eighty percent of individuals with OCD began their OCD symptoms in childhood. Students with OCD reflect the normal spectrum of intelligence and OCD displays no cultural or racial boundaries.

Inheritability

OCD is passed from one generation to the next but in different forms due to the “polygenetic” nature of the disorder. That means there is more than one gene that is associated with OCD. In one family there may be a grandfather with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a grandmother with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a son with Chronic Motor Tic Disorder, his wife might have phobias and generalized anxiety disorder, and their daughter might have OCD, ADHD and depression and the son might have TS, ADHD, OCD and Visual-Motor Integration Dysfunction. Environmental impacts such as fetal stress, illness, excitement, and trauma can trigger anxiety disorders. In families, girls have more obsessions, compulsions, fears, and phobias.

Treatment Team

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a chronic medical disorder that, like other chronic disorders, requires an interdisciplinary approach and a treatment team. The treatment team can be comprised of the child, the parents, teachers, doctors, and other health care professionals. One of the most important roles a teacher can play is to help other students in the class understand how to treat the OCD student by modeling accurate knowledge, kindness, acceptance, and patience. Behavior Response Therapy and Exposure Prevention Therapy are behavioral therapies that can be important treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Medication, while sometimes prescribed by a Physician, is seldom sufficient without behavior therapies to assist the person with OCD to reduce the associated behaviors.

Behavior Response Therapy and Exposure Prevention Therapy are behavioral therapies that are extremely important treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Medication alone is seldom sufficient for treating OCD . Behavioral therapies can assist the person with OCD to reduce the size of the OCD and its impact on the person’s life.