Check OCD: What It Is, Symptoms And Treatment

Obsessive compulsive disorder is characterized by presence of obsessions cognitive content that appears in the mind and generates anxiety, and compulsions, everything that the person does to counteract obsessions, whether they are behaviors or mental acts. In order to speak of OCD, both must be manifested.

In the specific case of verification OCD, we are talking about a compulsion where the characteristic overt behavior is need to check anything. What you want to check will depend on the obsession in question. The main axis of thought obsession is the fear of losing control, of avoiding fires, fear of a loved one dying, fear of having their belongings taken away, etc.

Characteristics of Check OCD

To determine that we are dealing with a case of verification OCD, the obsession must have the following characteristics:

• Persistent: is repeated. The thought should not be specific, since we can all have it at some point.
• Resistant: the person does things to avoid having those types of thoughts again.
• Passive exposure: the obsession appears in the person’s head. It is experienced as one’s own and meaningless.
• Egodystonic: generates discomfort and creates interference in the subject’s life.

In addition to the presence of obsession, if the person suffers from checking OCD they will also have compulsions, that is, repetitive overt behaviors as stereotypies or coverts, which in themselves are not pleasurable, nor do they give rise to any useful activity.

In checking OCD cases there will not always be a realistic or logical connection, that is, known irrationality and resistance is present, which can relieve tension. Therefore, compulsions prevent the discomfort of obsession with short-term effectiveness.

How do I know if I have check OCD? Among the types of OCD, the main symptom that revolves around it is feeling of control and the need for constant checking but there are also other ways in which it manifests itself.

Next, we will see the main Checking OCD Symptoms:

• Avoidance and self-imposed restrictions.
• Search for tranquility.
• Cognitive rituals.
• Pay attention to negative information.
• Hopelessness and worry.
• Rumination.
• High levels of physiological activation.
• Changes in body functions.
• Sleep disorders.
• Appearance of anxious symptoms.
• Appearance of depressive symptoms.
• Discomfort.
• Excessive consumption of alcohol, sedative, hypnotic or anxiolytic drugs.
• Sense of guilt and pathological feelings of responsibility.

If you’re wondering how to cure OCD, check many authors, including versions prior to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).⁽¹⁾understand obsessive compulsive disorder as a type of anxiety disorder. For this reason, we find so many similarities in their treatments, with the cognitive approaches of cognitive-behavioral therapy being the ones that have proven to be most effective.

On the one hand, to overcome the verification OCD, it is usually accompanied by cognitive-behavioral therapy with psychotropic drugs. The most commonly used are clomipramine, fluoxetine and fluvoxamine.

Another type of OCD treatment check that is showing effectiveness is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Some experts talk about applying it to the basal nuclei or bundles of fibers connected to them, and others, however, state that greater effectiveness is achieved when applied to the subthalamic nucleus. A positive point about this therapy is that it is reversible.

Psychosurgeries to treat checking OCD

In addition, other therapies have been used for the treatment of verification OCD, increasingly out of use, which could attract the attention of more than one person:

• cingulotomy: surgical destruction of specific fiber bundles in the subcortical area of ​​the frontal lobe, with positive results and a reasonable success rate.
• Capsulotomy: another surgical operation in which a region of the cingulate fascicle is destroyed.

These processes are irreversible Therefore, they should only be used as a last resort, since adverse side effects may appear such as difficulty planning behaviors, apathy or difficulty inhibiting responses that are not socially accepted.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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