Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

- I must be late because I am here on Time -

This page was last updated on Sunday, September 09, 2012

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is a personality disorder rather than an anxiety disorder of a similar name, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This is why it seems that the Cheshire Cat, known for his mischievous grin, appears again. That is why some experts disagree on what is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and what is Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. The reason for this is that a person who exhibits the signs of OCD may not have that disorder and so it is quite possible that they have OCPD that is an autism spectrum disorder. The clue is that people with OCD have unwanted thoughts. However, people with OCPD believe that their faults are correct.

A pervasive preoccupation with perfection characterizes OCPD. Some people call these individuals ‘neat freaks’ or ‘Felixs’ because neatness, perfection and, orderliness occupies much of their time. This term comes from the character ‘Felix Unger’ in the television comedy called ‘The Odd Couple’ which is based on a play by Neil Simon. The story is about two men, a neat freak and a slob who are separated from their wives and now have to live together. While creators intended the show to be a comedy, in real life OCPD cannot be a comic relief, it is a serious disorder and persons with OCPD can be extremely controlling and inflexible.

A compulsion is an irresistible impulse to do something such as washing your hands but this is not always a bad thing, especially if your hands are dirty or sticky. However, if this washing is repetitive and persistent without necessity, then it has become an obsession. In some ways, an obsession can become so personally consuming that it overwhelms an individual’s relationship with others. For an example, a person who reties another's tie and proceeds tie every tie in the workplace.

An obsession is fixation, preoccupation, infatuation, fetish, or even a phobia. The difference between a compulsion and an obsession is that a compulsion is usually short-lived but it can be very repetitive. In contrast, an obsession is a long term fixation or preoccupation. Moreover, an obsession may include distressing thoughts and rituals that a person cannot stop or stop thinking about.

In contrast, a habit may be the manner how one conducts their self. For an example, a person may wake up in the morning, take a shower, have breakfast, and read the morning paper before going to work. This is not a compulsion but an acquired voluntary behavior that is beneficial to most persons. Yet some people would fault this behavior and some people are never happy unless they have something to complain about.

Learned Behavior

Newborn children are born with certain survival reflexes such as the ability to suckle and to cry. However, they cannot focus on an object or grasp it. This will come later as the child develops but for the present time, that’s all that a child has to be able to do. According to one ‘learning theory’, a child’s development is structured by observation, reward, and punishment. In other words, good conduct is rewarded and bad conduct is punished.

However, the child has to learn those activities such as behavior, manners, speech and attitudes from those around him. This means that good behavior should be fostered while bad behavior must have fateful consequences.  So when a parent smiles at their child, that smile reinforces the child’s learning of that behavior. The most important realization is this, we learn from those people around us. In other words, what we do and what we believe comes from the experiences we have had with others who could be thousands of miles away or just next door. 

A common way of introducing a topic is to state its name and then introduce its initialism or its acronym. So in this writing, ‘OCD’ is an initialism for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). So when this topic is introduced, as I just did, I will not have to use its formal name again.  For an example, OCD is characterized by recurrent uncontrolled obsessions, repetitive behaviors, and hallucinations. But no one knows why these symptoms occur but we know that this disorder is often associated with other disorders. However we do know that some hallucinations result from sleep deprivation which is common in those who are afflicted with this disorder. We also know that some people use sleep deprivation to control their victims. Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder is characterized by recurrent unwanted thoughts, the obsessions, and repetitive behaviors, the compulsions.

The placebo effect occurs as a response to treatment where the patient’s condition has improved to the extent that would not be otherwise possible. For an example, giving a patient a sugar pill to reduce pain. A placebo is usually used in controlled testing to determine the effectiveness of a treatment to produce a desired result. So a placebo may be prescribed more for the mental relief rather than its actual effect on the disorder. This may explain why some people may use time-consuming measures to reduce their anxiety. The problem is that those measures may only last for a limited time and this is why repetitive behaviors recur. So when left untreated, obsessions and compulsions can dominate a person’s life. That’s why rituals can only provide temporary relief. However, left untreated, these rituals can take over a person's life.

OCD is a neurological disorder that stems from anxiety. A person has obsessive thoughts and compulsions to participate in obsessive and repetitive behavior that can involve complex and unusual rituals. This is different from highly structured rituals of the Masons or of the Popes, it’s very different.  We know that when a person cannot participate in a ritual, then they experience great fear and discomfort. OCD behaviors include excessive hand washing, repetitively checking locks, irrationally hoarding objects and counting rituals. The behavior generally centers on a specific anxiety. Moreover, this behavior can get in the way of daily living, if left untreated. OCD is generally diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood. (To be continued).

According to current information, Kleptomania is the failure to refrain from the urge to steal items which are not for reasons of personal use or financial enhancement. Kleptomania was first described in 1816 and is presently classified in the psychiatric glossary as an impulse control disorder.  The main characteristic of Kleptomania is a person’s incapability to refuse the urge to steal. This is why that some experts propose that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the information, this disorder is frequently not properly diagnosed but is often associated with other psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety and some eating disorders.

However, there is more that I didn’t know about until I began writing this essay. According to current internet sources, Kleptomania is the failure to refrain from the urge to steal items which are not for reasons of personal use or financial enhancement. First described in 1816, kleptomania is presently classified in the psychiatric glossary as an impulse control disorder.

The main characteristic of this disorder is a person’s incapability to refuse to give in to the urge to steal. Some experts propose that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the information, this disorder is frequently under diagnosed and is regularly associated with other psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety and eating disorders, and alcohol and substance abuse. A major source of this information is Wikipedia. Meanwhile, I will be looking for more material on this subject.

Features of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (to be reexamined)

Edward Steven Nunes.

References

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/nimhanxiety.pdf

Edward Steven Nunes