Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a chronic and long-lasting anxiety disorder that occurs as a result of a dysfunctional part of the brain. The individuals with OCD create false memories about a real past event that results in confusion when it’s retrieved, or the affected individual ultimately makes it up.
In other terms, having OCD is like having ‘junk mail’ in the brain – the unwanted information just keeps coming and overwhelms the affected individuals. Their misinterpretation of the intrusive thoughts results in the creation of obsessions and compulsions.
What Causes OCD?
The orbitofrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the striatum, the thalamus, and the head of the caudate nucleus, are the brain areas that are most affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder. Namely, the OCD symptoms involve communication errors among all these structures of the cerebral cortex.
The dysfunctionality of the neuro-transmitting system of the brain is one of the main reasons that can lead to this condition. Miscommunication between the neuron cells enabled by the neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, glutamate) contributes to a combination of genetic, behavioral, neurobiological, cognitive, and environmental factors that trigger the obsessive-compulsive disorder.
What Is Poor Memory Confidence?
Poor memory confidence occurs when the affected individuals fail to retrieve the information on a particular event from memory. The failure to recall a past happening is the reason why they are forced to create false memories since they do not believe their memory.
Which Dysfunctional Beliefs Are Associated with OCD?
There are 6 dysfunctional beliefs that are related to the obsessive-compulsive disorder:
- Inflated responsibility – The affected individuals believe that they should prevent any negative outcome by all means.
- The fusion of thought and action – The affected individual holds a belief that a bad thought can influence the occurrence of an unfortunate event.
- Thoughts control – The persons affected with OCD strongly believe that they must have complete control over their thoughts.
- Overestimation of threat – An exaggerated belief that adverse events are worse than they appear to be, as well as that they will have an even worse outcome.
- Intolerance for uncertainty – A firm belief of the affected individual that it’s both possible and essential for them to know that bad events won’t occur.
- Perfectionism – The individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder do not accept imperfection, and firmly believe that one cannot make mistakes.
What Are the Types of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder?
There are 4 types of obsessive-compulsive disorders, based on the degree of severity of the symptoms. All 4 types of disorders include both an obsession and a compulsion:
- Contamination & Washing
- Accidental Harm, Doubts & Checking
- Just Right OCD: Symmetry, Arranging & Counting
- Unacceptable Taboo Thoughts & Mental Rituals
Contamination & Washing
The symptoms include excessive worrying about hygiene, feelings of disgust caused by surfaces and items which are not perfectly clean, obsessive washing and cleaning.
Individuals affected with this type of obsessive-compulsive disorder avoid all public places (especially public toilets) and obsessively try to clean themselves and their environment by using a lot of disinfecting and sterilizing solutions.
They tend to clean everything they come into contact with, and if they fail to do it impeccably, these individuals become overwhelmed by feelings of disgust, dread, and fear of infection.
Accidental Harm, Doubts & Checking
The individuals who suffer from this type of obsessive-compulsive disorder excessively worry and fear of accidentally hurting someone, for instance, while driving or if they fear they’ve left the iron on, thus causing a fire that could hurt the ones living with them.
They are labeled as ‘checkers’ because they obsessively check the safety of their surroundings to prevent any accidental harm.
Just Right OCD: Symmetry, Arranging, and Counting
Perfectionism is the keyword for this obsessive-compulsive disorder. These individuals follow a compulsive pattern of behavior that includes constant and repetitive arranging and rearranging of the items that surround them, arranging and aligning everything to be in a perfect position (paintings, mirrors, desks, decorations, etc.).
This behavior is characterized by a fear that if they don’t rearrange some items to the perfect symmetry, or make something appear ‘just right,’ something terrible would happen to them or their close ones.
Unacceptable Taboo Thoughts & Mental Rituals
This type of obsessive-compulsive disorder includes deep continuous thinking about the same negative, dark, or sad issue, which can be extremely harmful to the mental health of the individual. Very often, these individuals are obsessed with religious, sexual, or violent themes and occurrences.
These individuals usually hold the belief that their thoughts are dangerous, so they are trying their best to suppress and control them by engaging in excessive praying, analysis, seeking approval from others, etc.