Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

6 Pages 1406 Words

The Personal Prison:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Introduction

You finally make the decision, “This time I’m going to do it.” “People ride the bus every day with no worries at all,” you tell yourself. As the large bus idles up to the stop you glance at the ground, take a deep breath and step on. “No, problem,” you say as you pay the driver and walk down the isle. You make your way to an empty seat half way back, slide in and calmly lean your head towards the window. At the next stop many people scramble up the steps and your face becomes white fearing the inevitable. Sure enough a man with a newspaper under his arm spots the empty seat next to you and plops down unaware of your presence. Unfortunately, the sentiment is not reciprocated as the intrusive thoughts strike like lightning through your head. First they are sexually explicit, extremely vivid and rapidly appearing like a slide show. Scene after horrible scene invades mind consuming your entire attention. You hate them, you hate yourself, you feel shameful, embarrassed, y!
et are defenseless against them. You can’t seem to turn your head away as the entrancement paralyzes every cell of your body. Now the images become violent visions of blood, pain and torture. You can’t stand it anymore, sweat drips from your chin as you fight the murderous thoughts just to get up. The bus stops and you streak down the isle and out into the street.

Definition

This is a scene out of the life of someone suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This disorder occurs in about 5 million, or almost 2% of the American population of the population where worries, doubts and superstitious beliefs, which are seemingly senseless, tend to intrude on an individual creating discomfort or anxiety and/or repetitive actions performed to reduce discomfort and anxiety (DSM IV, 1994). It is often described by people of the disorder that it feels, like a ca...