Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over.

Mental Health, is one of the many issues that have been keenly observed and has been gaining a lot of awareness from health professionals, people in general, and the overall community. Mental health disorders usually interfere with our daily chores and thus affects work, school life, personal relationship, and developmental years.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or (OCD) as it is commonly known, is characterized by obsession or compulsion or both in some cases.

Compulsive acts or repetitive acts such as washing hands, cleaning a particular place repetitively, counting numbers, or going over and again through a list, such acts that are meaningless, stereotyped and ritualistic, and which are not logical for others. eye blinking and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Common vocal tics include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds. If those acts are not carried out one suffers from low self-confidence of missing out on something important or becomes anxious till the act is completed.

Obsessive acts include repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety. Fear of germs or contamination, unwanted or taboo thoughts involving religion, harm, words, aggressive thoughts towards others or self, having things symmetrical or in perfect order.

Not all rituals or habits are compulsions. Everyone double checks things sometimes. But a person with OCD generally:

a) Can't control his or her thoughts or behaviors, even when those thoughts or behaviors are recognized as excessive

b) Spends more than 1  hour a day on these thoughts or behaviors

c) Doesn’t get pleasure when performing the behaviors or rituals, but may feel brief relief from the anxiety the thoughts cause

d) Experiences significant problems in their daily life due to these thoughts or behaviors

OCD is a common disorder that affects adults, adolescents, and children all over the world. People who have experienced abuse (physical or sexual) in childhood or other trauma are at an increased risk for developing OCD. Sometimes people with OCD also have other mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and others 

If you think or anyone you know has OCD, please visit your doctor and let him know about the symptoms.OCD is typically treated with medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. Although most patients with OCD respond to treatment, some patients continue to experience symptoms.