OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), is a mental illness. OCD is a common anxiety disorder that affects a person to repeat thoughts, actions, or rituals repetitively. What a person may repeat is usually very unusual and bizarre. This illness ranges from not affecting a person a whole lot, to being so severe that they spend the majority of the day dealing with their compulsive actions. This illness does not go away by itself but can be treated. OCD is usually centered around themes. Such as germs, someone breaking in or even just repetition. A person obsessed with a fear of germs may wash their hands repeatedly, and refuse to shake hands with anyone. A person with this fear may even take several long showers a day. A person with a fear of someone breaking in may repeatedly check their windows and doors to make sure they are locked. These actions will not be performed just a couple times, but several times. A person with OCD may also have an uncontrollable need to repeat things such as counting, saying thoughts over and over again in their head, or out loud, even in some cases prayers. OCD ranges in severity. A person who may just like to do things a certain way but doesn’t constantly repeat it, has a low severity of OCD, but a person who repeats the same actions all day everyday and this affects their lives negatively such as checking your doors for over an hour before bed, is severely affected. OCD isn’t just a made up illness, there is several statistics and facts behind it. The illness affects 3.3 million adults, and 1 million children in the U.S. Researchers have noticed that a low level of Serotonin has been linked to people with this disorder. These low levels hinder the area of the brain that plans and makes judgment. Not only does this