Have you ever wondered why you are extraordinarily cautious of your environment, surroundings or even your own physical body? I mean, of course it’s normal to be cautious about all those but what if yours is bigger than that of most average people? Which is why I used the term “extraordinarily”. Well, the surprising fact about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is that, a lot of people do not even know that they have this disorder. While it may be due to lack of awareness and information, it may also be because of the nature and severity of the individual’s case. In fact, most people with mild OCD do not realize that something is a bit off with the way they do things.
Now before I dive deeper into this article, I wouldn’t want you to read through tons of words still clueless about what an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) means. An Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a Mental Health Disorder characterized by varying range of compulsive rituals or habits carried out as a result of some unwanted obsessions or strange thoughts which an individual may have. A person feels compelled to carry out all the rituals just to ease or alleviate the distress involved in not doing them.
People with mild OCD are less likely to notice their disorder because they may think that they are just being a little bit more cautious, or neater than an average person, and that they just love experiencing the joy in organizing stuffs. It’s not like the compulsive part of their disorder doesn’t manifest itself rather, it becomes too mild to be noticed so a person may begin to assume all those. Moreover, because symptoms of OCD varies among people, some sufferers may experience more strange symptoms than others.
While still on this, it would be best to break the news to you so you would understand that there is more to some people’s OCD than just being perfect organizers. Believe me, dealing with OCD is not a joke. While very mild OCD may go unnoticed, severe OCD’s do not. Severe OCD has been reportedly described by sufferers as extremely distressing. Imagine having to deal with constant washing of hands, compulsive repetition of words, arranging stuffs in specific direction, sticking to certain “lucky” numbers or even having bizarre thoughts you cannot explain to others. Some sufferers describe it like having some kind of strange powerful force within you that compels you to either do the rituals, or get punished with extreme distress and worry.
Just like every other mental disorder, OCD needs proper attention and medical treatment because it may affects people’s day to day functioning and personal relationships in the society. There are treatment options like therapies which are available out there for sufferers who go through this energy draining struggle.
Written By: Karima Shehu
Penned 28/11/19
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