OCD or is it CDO

Sky Moberly, Staff Writer

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a chronic anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that may result in repetitive behaviors. There is a biological vulnerability to develop OCD which may sometimes be inherited.

Studies have shown that streptococcus is linked to OCD, and if strep is left untreated and is recurrent, it may lead to the development to OCD. There are also environmental stressors that can trigger OCD such as abuse, switching living situations, illnesses, and work or school-related problems. About 3.3 million adults and about one million children and adolescents in the U.S. have OCD. The disorder usually first appears in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. It occurs about equally in men and women and affects people of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The cycle of OCD goes like this: the trigger event, the obsession, the meaning given to the obsession, the anxiety, and the strategies used to cope with the obsessions. For people who have this disorder, they self-help manage this by being in situations that would typically trigger the OCD. So this means people with this disorder who want to self-treat themselves would have to face their fears in order to try to calm this disorder down.

It’s honestly inspiring because most people won’t face their fears, but there are a very small amount who do. There are many people who are famous that self manage this without anyone knowing unless otherwise told. For example, Cameron Diaz as well as Donald Trump obsess over germs. Now Trump says he will not shake anyone’s hands especially teachers, and he knows the exact amount of germs that teachers would have on them or in the classrooms. After Trump, there’s Leonardo DiCaprio who obsesses with sidewalks; he would  repeatedly step on cracks or gum stains. Doorways also trigger his OCD.

Most of the time the people who suffer with this disorder are hardly able to be recognized, no matter how bad it is.