Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Analysis

Anxiety and stress-related illness are common factors of everyday living in social. There are around 40% of adults in the Western societies will be diagnosable with any anxiety disorder in their lifetime (National Institute of Mental Health, 2005). In this essay will simply declare obsessive compulsive disorder which is the main anxiety disorder. Afterwards, compare and contrast two aetiology theories of OCD. The obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder characterized either by obsessions or by compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive and recurring thoughts or images that individual finds disturbing and uncontrollable (Davey, 2014), such as sex, violence, dirt and harm. Compulsions are a repetitive or ritualized behaviour in response the
individual feels driven to perform in order to prevent some negative outcome (Davey, 2008), such as checking, cleaning and repeating the action. From each aetiology of disorder, there are the biological factors and the psychological factors. The chosen theories were the inflated responsibility and thought-action fusion which as classify as psychological factors.

The inflated responsibility has been defined as ‘the belief that one has power to bring about or prevent subjectively crucial negative outcomes’ (Salkovskis & Shafran & Rachman & Freestone, 1999).
These results might be genuine, that means having outcomes in the real world, as well as at the moral level. The individuals with OCD would appraisal the situations and developed obsessional thoughts. Veale (2007) believes the thoughts leads to compulsions and avoidance behaviours to prevent harms happen. Davey (2014) also mentioned the individuals with the OCD would have some obsessional thoughts leading to harmful consequences, this causes irresistible anxiety and triggers compulsive actions. Sufferers perceived harm can be prevented from the actions. Therefore, the inflated responsibility also evaluated as a term whether they could cause themselves and others a
harms.

The thought-action fusion is a dysfunctional assumption that the individuals with the OCD would have a thought of actions and like to execute it. Salkovskis and McGuire (2003) suggested the person who believes that thinking is same as performing the actions, is the thought-action fusion. It is a common clinical symptom in OCD. Davey (2014) also defined that the suffers believes their displeasing and unacceptable thoughts can affect or influence in the present world. However, those thoughts presented in the mind are always negative and passive. For example, when the suffers have recalled something dirty or disgusting in they mind, they may have an awareness that their hands become dirty and keeping washing their hands.

The inflated responsibility and the thought-action fusion are two considerable factors in the cognitive schema of OCD. They are a kind of thought suppression in psychological factors. These theories are on account of the through or belief which developed in the suffers’ mind to urge them to make an action. The sufferers usually misunderstanding these thoughts are truth and they become distressed and practice the ritual behaviours. However, Seay (2011) proposed the thoughts are uninvited or intrusive and actions always are distressing, senseless forced and performed automatically, and the sufferers never realizes that engaging the behaviours are unnecessary. The symptoms can reveal the meaning of obsessions and compulsions of the individual. The behaviour of the individuals related to the things about the most important or feared. The inflated responsibility and the thought-action fusions are also reflecting the psychological origins or the meaning of compulsive and obsessive symptoms.

In addition, the inflated responsibility and the thought-action fusion are the behavioural theory in the psychological factors. According to Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (2001), in the behavioural theory, the individuals with OCD relate certain objects or circumstances with fear, and that they figure out how to avoid the things they fear or to perform ceremonies that help to reduce the fear. However, the actions they take are based on their obsessional thoughts and dysfunctional beliefs. There is a common compulsive through suppression strategies, for example checking and relocking the door and windows before they leave the home to ensure that the home is safe. Besides, the sufferers with OCD will avoid the things they fear, instead of confronting or endure the fear. For instance, the individuals who fear catching the ailment from public toilets will avoid using them.

These theories may exaggerate the thought with the fear, even represents an actual threat to the sufferers.
It can cause an abnormal state of anxiety and some other negative emotions, such as disgrace, blame and disgust. Moreover, the compulsive behaviours and ultimately responsible have a devastating impact on the sufferer’s life. OCD-UK (2004) researched the individuals with OCD usually feels responsible for trying to prevent the things that they fear happening, they have surrendered to the apparently unreasonable need to perform an odd and regularly unrelated behaviour pattern. The individuals may consume excessive amounts of time and bear significant distress and anguish. Mind (2016) also exemplified the obsessive thoughts can make the individuals hard to concentrate and feeling exhausted because they want to avoid some certain circumstances. The obsessive thought can cause the anxiety or ashamed and affect the sufferer’s physical
health.

Nevertheless, the actual conditions of the behaviour in two theories are different. The inflated responsibility is a belief that the sufferer feels responsible for preventing the harm or misfortunes from happening to themselves or other, therefore they would like to make sure everything should always be perfect and unaccepted any mistakes. They tend to have some inflated conceptions about preventing all the harm or terrible things from happing. For example, the individuals who have cleanliness caused by the obsessive thoughts that they must keep bacteria away from themselves and their family otherwise they may get an illness and that will be their fault. Besides, one of the common examples usually appears on the parents which under stress, they may have an intrusive thought of harming the child. The enlarged responsibility urges the sufferers take actions to prevent the negative outcomes, even some of them are unreasonable or unnecessary.