The definition of an obsession is an impulse, persuasive thought or image that is perceived by an individual as being off-limits, inappropriate or disgusting. Psychiatrists classify these obsessions as ego-dystonic or ego-alien due to the anxiety and distress that they elicit, but also because the content of the obsession is typically very dissimilar to the normal thoughts of the individual. The individual will generally view these obsessions as something out of their control or will have a fear that they will not be able to control their own behavior, causing them to act upon the impulses or thoughts that drive their obsession. Many of these obsessions will generally have common themes such as doubts about something that may accidentally cause harm to the sufferer or to someone else, loss of control over impulses that are sexual or violent in nature, compulsive order or symmetry or a concern about body fluids or germs causing a contamination.
Many of these compulsions will revolve around behaviors or mental acts that are repeated as a means of reducing anxious feelings regarding a specific obsession or a need to prevent something negative from occurring. Overt behaviors like obsessive checking or hand-washing and mental acts like praying or counting are just two examples of typical compulsions. It is not unusual for some of these compulsive rituals to be very time-consuming or complex.
Most obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) begin for females in young adult life or for males somewhere between adolescence and young adult life. Most of the people that suffer from this disorder display symptoms that grow in intensity or that fluctuate similar to a generalized anxiety disorder as a response to stress. Major depressive disorder as well as other types of anxiety-based disorders are common comorbidities of OCD. As many as 20-30% of all people that were sampled in obsessive-compulsive disorder clinical trials have reported experiencing various tics in their history, with as many as 25% of these individuals being diagnosed as suffering from Tourette's syndrome as well. Individuals that suffer from Tourette's syndrome have a 50% chance of also developing some type of obsessive-compulsive disorder as well.
There is a clear familial pattern apparent in obsessive compulsive disorder at a somewhat greater rate than many of the other anxiety disorder conditions. There is also an even higher increase in risk for first-degree relatives that suffer from Tourette's syndrome to develop some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Trichotillomania, which is the medical term for compulsive hair pulling, as well as sexual behavior disorders, gambling, compulsive shoplifting and other mental disorders fall into the category of obsessive compulsive disorder. Some of these conditions, however, aren't as intense as the symptoms seen in obsessive compulsive disorder sufferers because the behaviors exhibited are less of a ritual and because the end result is gratifying to the individual. Other compulsive or obsessive conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder is much more limited in its scope because the behaviors focus in on a specific concern about appearance, such as an imagined ugliness.
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