As Homeopaths we encounter many patients who have many peculiarities. That includes a variety of repeated , unwanted thoughts and behaviors. The examples are countless. For e.g. , A lady went suspicious after a girl who asked help while deboarding from train from her husband.She started asking questions from the girl ,why can’t you get down on your own? Why did you choose to travel alone? Why do you have this much luggage ? Why did you ask my husband only? These were the questions which embarrassed her husband . After that she went on a checking spree. She started checking his phone everytime he answered. This went to the extent that the husband gave her the phone first whenever it rang. This is so absurd ! This was after 14 years after their marraige.

The other example from my practice is of a lady who had a peculiar fear that her newborn will be exchanged with an other infant in the hospital.She wanted to check all the records of the hospital.How many babies were born in the hospital the time her son was born?? Were they tagged properly? She wanted to know which nurse was present there , who gave the child a bath and in any case was there any possibility that her child was exchanged. She could be only convinced after she saw that the only male child born in the hospital that day was her son.She took the child home. But for Twelve long years that fear lingered in her mind.She never allowed her child to go out of her sight. Even if he entered a friend’s house , she will be waiting outside and check is this my child or he is some one else. The height of this was ,she used to check her son’s face at least few times at night with the light of her mobile. She consulted me for Migraine and it was only during the case taking she revealed this history and got to know that this can trated with Homeopathy. It is even difficult to imagine the plight of this lady and also of her family who was dealing with her !! 

Intrestingly both the ladies understood that this is ridiculous but they did not have any control over their thoughts .They were  successfully treated with Homeopathy .

So, This is an endeavor to throw some light on this Mental Disorder ,which is Obsssive compulsive disorder .

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations (obsessions) or the urge to do something over and over again (compulsions). Some people can have both obsessions and compulsions. A compulsive habit might be to was your hands several times after touching something that could be dirty. Although you may not want to think or do these things, you feel powerless to stop.

Everyone has habits or thoughts that repeat sometimes. People with OCD have thoughts or actions that:

Take up at least an hour a day

Are beyond your control

Aren’t enjoyable

Interfere with work, your social life, or another part of life

Checking, such as locks, alarm systems, ovens, or light switches, or thinking you have a medical condition like pregnancy or schizophrenia

Contamination, a fear of things that might be dirty or a compulsion to clean. Mental contamination involves feeling like you’ve been treated like dirt.

Symmetry and ordering, the need to have things lined up in a certain way

Ruminations and intrusive thoughts, an obsession with a line of thought. Some of these thoughts might be violent or disturbing.

Obsessive thoughts can include:

Worries about yourself or other people getting hurt

Constant awareness of blinking, breathing, or other body sensations

Suspicion that a partner is unfaithful, with no reason to believe it

Compulsive habits can include:

Doing tasks in a specific order every time or a certain “good” number of times

Needing to count things, like steps or bottles

Fear of touching doorknobs, using public toilets, or shaking hands

OCD Causes and Risk Factors

Doctors aren’t sure why some people have OCD. Stress can make symptoms worse.

It’s a bit more common in women than in men. Symptoms often appear in teens or young adults. 

OCD risk factors include:

A parent, sibling, or child with OCD

Physical differences in certain parts of your brain

Depression, anxiety, or tics

Experience with trauma

A history of physical or sexual abuse as a child

Sometimes, a child might have OCD after a streptococcal infection. This is called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, or PANDAS.

OCD Diagnosis

Your doctor may do a physical exam and blood tests to make sure something else isn’t causing your symptoms. They will also talk with you about your feelings, thoughts, and habits.

OCD Treatment

There’s no cure for OCD. But you may be able to manage how your symptoms affect your life.

Treatments include:

Psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help change your thinking patterns. In a form called exposure and response prevention, your doctor will put you in a situation designed to create anxiety or set off compulsions. You’ll learn to lessen and then stop your OCD thoughts or actions.

Relaxation. Simple things like meditation, yoga, and massage can help with stressful OCD symptoms.

Medication. Psychiatric drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors help many people control obsessions and compulsions. They might take 2 to 4 months to start working. Common ones include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine(Prozac), fluvoxamine, paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). If you still have symptoms, your doctor might give you antipsychotic drugs like aripiprazole (Abilify) or risperidone (Risperdal).

Neuromodulation. In rare cases, when therapy and medication aren’t making enough of a difference, your doctor might talk to you about devices that change the electrical activity in a certain area of your brain. One kind, transcranial magnetic stimulation, is FDA-approved for OCD treatment. It uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells. A more complicated procedure, deep brain stimulation, uses electrodes that are implanted in your head.

HOMEOPATHIC PERSPECTIVE OF OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

In Obsessive Compulsive disorder there is a chronic and constant confrontation of the Ego from the unconscious drives .

It is not overwhelming but it threatens to overwhelm.

When unconscious impulses related to sex or aggression threaten to burst in the consciousness ,anxiety is produced. Strict Super Ego also acts against these impulses,producing guilt.

The individual tries to reduce the resultant anxiety or guilt by some repetitious acts or thoughts.For example ,if a person is confronted  by unacceptable seual impulses ,he may resort to excessive praying to reduce his axniety and guilt.

The main defenses that operate in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are REaction formation.Undoing and Isolation.

Severe cases of Obsessive Compulsive disorder are like pre psychotic states. The ego can seem to be in danger of a breakdown under constant pressure from the inner disturbances.The Ego has to exert a lot of control to see that this does not happen.Obsessive -Compulsive disorder is seen asan attempt to control the unconscious coming in to the consciousness,hence the remedies needing to be in control are aten indicated in this disorder. 

This understanding is from Personal Evolution Model . We can treat OCD by understanding an individual from this perspective ! We have been successful in treating OCD as we understand the core issue of the Individual !