In recent statistics, around 2.2 million Americans have obsessive compulsive disorder wherein they need to perform routines and rituals over and over. This leads to disruption of their everyday lives. However, recently, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom reveals that compulsions from the disorder happen to be caused by misfiring of the brain control system. It was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Individuals with OCD have upsetting thoughts that needs to be controlled and they opt to repeat rituals perfectly. They try to suppress thoughts and negative feelings like anxiety and nervousness through these routines.
Based from the definition of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder from Mayo Clinic, it is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
"While some habits can make our life easier, like automating the act of preparing your morning coffee, others go too far and can take control of our lives in a much more insidious way, shaping our preferences, beliefs, and in the case of OCD, even our fears," reiterates Prof. Trevor Robbins, a study author from the Department of Psychology at Cambridge.
The researchers wanted to know if the compulsions in OCD may result from an overactive habit-system. To kick start the study, they scanned 37 people with OCD's brains and those 33 who did not have the disorder.
The results were revealed and it shows that their finding that the OCD patients' habits prompted over activity in the caudate adds evidence to the idea that OCD compulsions could be caused by the habit system in the brain.
The emphasis of the study dwells on the importance of treating OCD early. This is to prevent further progression of the disorder which will be very hard to treat. OCD can be a complicated disorder if diagnosed late. Thus, proper diagnosis is needed to initiate proper treatment.