"OCD is not a joke on the Internet, it's a decade of my suffering"

　　"OCD is not a joke on the Internet, it's a decade of my suffering"

　　No matter how many times I checked the door after I went out, I still felt that I didn't lock the door. Even sitting in class, I couldn't resist the urge to go home and check the door lock...

　　Changsha Evening News All Media Reporter Peng Fang Correspondent Cheng Jie

　　"Death to obsessive-compulsive disorder in minutes", "Ten pictures to test what level of obsessive-compulsive disorder you have"... On various social platforms, you may have brushed content related to "obsessive-compulsive disorder" more than once.

In these images, there is either a picture frame that hangs crookedly, a row of misaligned items, or a WeChat icon that says there are 99 unread messages.

After seeing it, many people have an urge to straighten, align, and open them, so they will half-jokingly say "I have obsessive-compulsive disorder".

　　This kind of ridicule on social media has led many people to think that OCD is an extreme pursuit of neatness, perfectionism, a little eccentricity, or some innocuous living habits.

This misreading far underestimates the harmfulness of OCD as a mental illness, and it also creates misunderstanding and offense for patients.

　　According to the global disease survey conducted by the World Health Organization, obsessive-compulsive disorder has become one of the 20 diseases that cause the heaviest disease burden among young and middle-aged people aged 15 to 44.

And it may also be the most misunderstood mental illness by the public.

　　case

　　25-year-old man with 10-year history, never understood

　　"On social media, obsessive-compulsive disorder is regarded as a joke and a joke. For me, it means 10 years of painful struggle, academic frustration, long-term loneliness and shame." Xiao Zhang, 25 years old, has History of obsessive-compulsive disorder over 10 years.

After regular and effective treatment, his symptoms have been greatly improved, but whenever he swipes on social media such as "death by obsessive-compulsive disorder in minutes", the pain in the past will be awakened.

　　About 10 years ago, Xiao Zhang, a junior high school student, had a quarrel with his classmates during a class break. Since then, he has been reminiscing and thinking about the words his classmates scolded him over and over again.

Thoughts of swearing and attacking people often popped up in his mind, he knew that he would not act, but he was still worried that he could not control himself and would fall into pain.

At the same time, he also developed some strange habits. For example, before talking to someone, he had to touch his ears and hair, and he had to touch it three times each time. No matter how many times he checked after going out, he still felt that he had not locked the door. Even sitting in class, I can't resist the urge to go home and check the door lock.

　　Xiao Zhang's behavior was not only ridiculed by his classmates, but also not understood by his parents. In exchange, he was only scolded.

In recent years, his symptoms have gradually worsened, resulting in frequent failures in school, and he has been unemployed for three years after graduating from university.

He also always felt foreign objects in his throat because he accidentally ate undercooked vegetable leaves when he was eating hot pot 3 years ago. He suspected that the vegetable leaves had been staying in his throat and felt unwell. Foreign body removal.

　　At the beginning of this year, at the suggestion of an otolaryngologist, Xiao Zhang came to the Hunan Provincial Brain Hospital (Hunan Second People's Hospital) for treatment.

Doctors conducted a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of his condition and diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly referred to as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After more than a month of hospitalization, Xiao Zhang's condition has been significantly improved, and now he can live and rest normally, and the foreign body sensation in his throat has gradually disappeared.

After being discharged from the hospital, he insisted on taking medicine under the guidance of the doctor, and his social functions gradually recovered. He is now working in the factory.

　　"Nowadays, social media has popularized the name 'obsessive-compulsive disorder', but the real patients have a sense of loneliness that is not understood." Xiao Zhang said that he did not dare to mention this disease in his life, mainly not because he was afraid of being discriminated against. , but was afraid that the other party would laugh, "OCD, I have it too, it's uncomfortable to see the little red dot of unread messages."

Therefore, the dialogue can only stay here, and what remains in the air is the sense of distance that cannot be broken, and the unspeakable pain after the second injury.

　　harm

　　Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders can lead to serious consequences such as suicide

　　Cheng Ming, director and chief physician of the Clinical Psychology Department of Hunan Brain Hospital (Hunan Second People's Hospital), said that the reason why many people have misunderstandings about obsessive-compulsive disorder is that normal people may also have some compulsive behaviors, such as maintaining order, checking Door locks, car locks, etc.

If the performance is light, the time is short, the pain is not felt, and the life is not affected, it is not an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

　　The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder patients are frequent and intense, consume a lot of time and energy, and even seriously affect their social functions, making them gradually unable to study and work, and increasingly avoid going out and interpersonal communication. island.

The main difference between obsessive-compulsive patients and ordinary obsessive-compulsive behaviors is whether they feel pain inside.

　　Medically speaking, obsessive-compulsive disorder is a group of mental and psychological disorders characterized by obsessive thinking and obsessive-compulsive behavior.

　　Clinically manifested as obsessive-compulsive thinking, such as worrying about contracting a certain disease; worrying about not doing well in their own affairs, some patients will repeatedly recall the events and words they have experienced, and once they are interrupted during the recall process, they will restart. Begin; some patients repeatedly entangled in some issues that lack practical significance and cannot stop, such as "why human beings exist" and so on.

　　Obsessive-compulsive behavior is a repetitive behavior or mental activity, usually secondary to obsessive thinking, with the purpose of relieving the tension and anxiety caused by obsessive thinking.

Common compulsions include repeatedly washing hands, tidying up the room, sorting, checking that doors and windows are locked, and repeatedly counting steps and telephone poles.

"I have seen a patient who even asked himself to exhale a cube every day." Cheng Ming said.

　　What makes obsessive-compulsive patients more painful is "anti-compulsion".

They try to avoid or slightly control compulsive behavior in social situations out of the idea of ​​"others see me as normal". Once alone, their repetitive thinking and behavior cannot be suppressed at all.

　　What is more vigilant is that when patients with OCD cannot persist in work and life due to uncontrollable thinking and behavior, they will have a strong sense of stigma and incompetence, and they are prone to depression after a long time.

In fact, the comorbidity rate of obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression is 60% to 70%.

Suicidal behavior in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder is often the common result of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression.

　　remind

　　Parents should help children develop a sense of self-control

　　"The onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder mostly occurs in childhood or early adulthood." Cheng Ming said that at present, the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder is not clear, and there are many reasons for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Physiological, psychological, genetic, environmental and other factors may be the incentives.

Psychological research has found that the formation of obsessive-compulsive disorder is related to the poor parenting style in childhood.

　　The original family of patients with OCD usually has characteristics such as high anxiety, high standards, and high control. These "three highs" characteristics greatly enhance children's psychological susceptibility to OCD.

Such parents often have a low tolerance for their children's mistakes, causing children to doubt their ability to cope with challenges and setbacks, and to be afraid of making mistakes.

And some adverse events in life, such as parental divorce, severe criticism, interpersonal tension, etc., can become the incentives.

Therefore, parents should create a stable, harmonious and pleasant growth environment for their children and cultivate their healthy personality.

　　According to data from the World Health Organization, the lifetime prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder worldwide is 0.8% to 3.0%.

The domestic reported lifetime prevalence was 0.26% to 0.32%.

Compared with depression and anxiety disorders, the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder is not high.

However, the problem with obsessive-compulsive disorder is that the onset is hidden and difficult to detect in the early stage, and some patients fail to receive professional treatment as soon as possible due to various considerations.

Some patients who are afraid of getting dirty and wash their hands repeatedly often enter the hospital when their condition is so severe that they cannot live a normal life. The time of onset and treatment may be separated by 10 years, which makes treatment more difficult.

　　If parents find that their children have symptoms related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is recommended to consult a professional hospital as soon as possible.

At present, specialist treatment mainly includes psychotherapy and drug therapy.

At the same time of treatment, the cooperation of parents is very important. Parents should increase the chances of children to complete tasks independently, let children make their own decisions, bear the consequences themselves, and enhance their sense of self-control.

　　However, the treatment process of obsessive-compulsive disorder is generally long and requires the trust and cooperation of the patient's family members and doctors. Most patients can be relieved or even cured after systematic and standardized treatment.

There are still a small number of patients with residual obsessive-compulsive symptoms. For such patients, learning to live with symptoms and live an active life is also one of the good medicines for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.