OCD: GOOD, BAD, OR UGLY?
BY JAMES MA
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or more
commonly known as OCD, is a mental disorder that
confronts many people around the world. It is
typically associated with obsessive and compulsive
acts. “Obsession” is the need to do certain things
excessively, while “compulsion” refers to the
sudden rush to do something. With these two
factors added together, OCD becomes a major
problem that may have life-damaging
consequences. People with OCD commonly have
the need to check the same things repeatedly or
perform the same routine over and over again, to
the point of excessiveness and obsession, hence
its name. Although it may seem trivial and
insignificant, OCD profoundly affects its victims all
the time and may have detrimental effects to the
rest of their lives.
some believe it is congenital, others believe
environment plays a role. Some scientists even
believe that OCD is inherent in all of us. Regardless,
people with identified OCD often have a
temptation to check if the door is locked, wash their
hands excessively, and constantly check to see if
they have lost their belongings. Although
seemingly harmless, there is a significant
correlation between the inherence of OCD and the
rates of anxiety and depression. Furthermore,
psychologists have been trying to come up with a
treatment for OCD, but up to now, these treatments
have had varying degrees of success.
According to Ruby Soriano, the school registrar at
SLAS, working with someone who has OCD
compels you to act the same way. She claims that
paranoid people make those around them
Shawn Lupori, a junior at Shanghai Livingston paranoid as well. She also says that there is no
American School (SLAS), stated, “It is extremely treatment for it because she has been that way her
hard to work with people with OCD.” He also stated whole life.
that it is a serious problem that needs to be
addressed.
OCD may be treatable, depending on the person.
But with its existence, it may cause a person serious
OCD is common among teens, but even more distress and affects those around him/her as well.
among adults. Scientists and neurologists have OCD is a phenomenon that is continued to be
been debating about the possible causes of OCD, studied, explored, and analyzed over the course of
and meanwhile, the condition has remained an human existence.
abstract and ambiguous phenomenon. While
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