How to Identify the Risk Factors for OCD

Scientists are not certain exactly why some people develop OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). This stressful and frequently upsetting psychiatric disorder can develop in teenage and adult men and women, and in rare cases, even in children. While not much is known about what you can do to prevent yourself from getting OCD, you can identify the known risk factors.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Identify the Risk Factors for OCD

1. Know your genetic risk factors for OCD. Like many other psychiatric conditions, OCD often runs in families. In fact, if someone in your immediate family has this condition, there is a 25 percent chance that you will suffer from it as well.
2. Be aware of the role of age. OCD occurs most often in teenagers and young adults in their early to mid-20s. However, the onset of OCD can happen at almost any age.
3. Understand the strep connection. Recent studies have suggested that strep infections may be linked to the development of OCD in children.
4. Know that having a pre-existing anxiety disorder increases your chances of getting OCD. Anxiety disorders include phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and extreme shyness (social anxiety).
5. Recognize that certain neurological conditions can increase your chances of getting OCD. These conditions are depression, ADHD and Tourette's Syndrome.
6. Understand that the post-partum period following a pregnancy can be a dangerous time for some women. It is believed that hormones may play a role in post-partum OCD, much like they do in post-partum depression.
7. Identify your personal stress level. People with a predisposition to OCD frequently develop it after experiencing a period of prolonged or intense stress.
8. Think back to your childhood. Sigmund Freud believed that OCD is triggered in childhood when a child is told not to touch something. Freud theorized that this early prohibition leads to an unhealthy fixation on touching things. Since one of the behaviors that can help you identify OCD is repetitive touching of certain objects, this theory is widely accepted as a possible cause.

Tips & Warnings

• If you think you may have OCD, make an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychologist for a full psychiatric evaluation. Only a trained professional can accurately diagnose OCD.
• Learning relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and meditation can help alleviate some of the anxiety associated with OCD.
• Cognitive therapy, in which a psychologist talks you through your obsessions and compulsions with the goal of gradually eliminating them, is a popular form of treatment for OCD.

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