Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior and the Types of Treatments :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior and the Types of Treatments Could you imagine to constantly be thinking over and over about something, such as keeping your hands clean from germs? Now imagine yourself washing your hands repeatedly for an obscene amount of time because you want relief from these nagging thoughts. At the same time you realize, "Gosh, what am I doing?" These are the symptoms of an individual with Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior (OCB). OCB is an anxiety disorder which carries a person's ordinary concerns to an extreme. The disorder is characterized by a series of obsessions, which are reoccurring thoughts, or fears, that constantly persist throughout a single day and which inevitably drives an individual crazy (1). Compulsions are actions, or thoughts, that the individual performs to briefly relieve their obsessions (1). Two other characteristics of OCB are the recognition of these symptoms as being unreasonable and the consumption of time due to the routines (1), (4). A basic fact is that OCB is non-discriminatory. OCB is thought to typically begin during adolescence, or early childhood. The symptoms are the same, but the child may not recognize the irrationality of these. In a survey conducted by Epidemiological Catchmen Area, it was found that approximately 1.5-2% of Americans suffer from OCB in a given year, and 2.5% have had symptoms sometime in their life. Amazingly, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Korea, and New Zealand experience roughly the same percentage ratio (7), (11). The specific cause of OCB is uncertain, but researchers have discovered through the use of Positron Emission Tomagraphy, that when individuals with OCB are compared to individuals without OCB the "orbital cortex, at the underside of the brain's frontal lobe," is overactive (9). The hypothesis is that there is a communication problem between the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls thought and decision, and the caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia that acts as a relay station and control of movement (1), (11). Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz at UCLA describes OCB as a "shake in the mind," because the disorder causes the individual to have abnormal thoughts (9). The overactive region activates, as Schwartz suggests, "a 'worry circuit' including the caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia that helps in switching gears from one to another, the cingulate gyrus, which wrenches the gut with dread, and the thalamus, which processes the body's sensory inputs [to become] "locke d in gear (9). Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior and the Types of Treatments :: Biology Essays Research Papers Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior and the Types of Treatments Could you imagine to constantly be thinking over and over about something, such as keeping your hands clean from germs? Now imagine yourself washing your hands repeatedly for an obscene amount of time because you want relief from these nagging thoughts. At the same time you realize, "Gosh, what am I doing?" These are the symptoms of an individual with Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior (OCB). OCB is an anxiety disorder which carries a person's ordinary concerns to an extreme. The disorder is characterized by a series of obsessions, which are reoccurring thoughts, or fears, that constantly persist throughout a single day and which inevitably drives an individual crazy (1). Compulsions are actions, or thoughts, that the individual performs to briefly relieve their obsessions (1). Two other characteristics of OCB are the recognition of these symptoms as being unreasonable and the consumption of time due to the routines (1), (4). A basic fact is that OCB is non-discriminatory. OCB is thought to typically begin during adolescence, or early childhood. The symptoms are the same, but the child may not recognize the irrationality of these. In a survey conducted by Epidemiological Catchmen Area, it was found that approximately 1.5-2% of Americans suffer from OCB in a given year, and 2.5% have had symptoms sometime in their life. Amazingly, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Korea, and New Zealand experience roughly the same percentage ratio (7), (11). The specific cause of OCB is uncertain, but researchers have discovered through the use of Positron Emission Tomagraphy, that when individuals with OCB are compared to individuals without OCB the "orbital cortex, at the underside of the brain's frontal lobe," is overactive (9). The hypothesis is that there is a communication problem between the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls thought and decision, and the caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia that acts as a relay station and control of movement (1), (11). Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz at UCLA describes OCB as a "shake in the mind," because the disorder causes the individual to have abnormal thoughts (9). The overactive region activates, as Schwartz suggests, "a 'worry circuit' including the caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia that helps in switching gears from one to another, the cingulate gyrus, which wrenches the gut with dread, and the thalamus, which processes the body's sensory inputs [to become] "locke d in gear (9).