Discuss the difference between an obsession and a compulsion?

What will be an ideal response?


Individuals with OCD are haunted by repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions), the need to carry out repetitive behaviors (compulsions) such as hand washing or counting objects, or both. Typical obsessions include thoughts of germs and disease, fear for the safety of the self or others, symmetry, and religious or moral concerns. Common compulsions include washing, checking, touching, counting, and arranging. Compulsions appear to be efforts to ward off the anxiety produced by the obsessions. For example, people obsessed with germs and disease often compulsively wash their hands hundreds of times per day. OCD is associated with abnormal patterns of activity in the frontostriatal circuits implicated in tardive dyskinesia. The direct pathway facilitates movement and is inhibited by the indirect pathway result from excessive activity in the direct pathway. Exaggerated worries about danger, hygiene, or harm, mediated by the orbitofrontal cortex, might lead to greater attention to perceived threats (obsessions) and compulsive behaviors aimed at reducing threat. The experience of relief following performance of compulsive behaviors would reinforce this cycle.

Psychology

You might also like to view...

Which of the following is considered the extreme dark side of inflated self-esteem?

A. upward social comparison B. narcissism C. excessive risk-taking behavior D. ingratiation

Psychology

Which observation by Norman Triplett led to the birth of social psychology?

A) People who are more attractive tend to make more money. B) People who smile more are generally regarded as more attractive. C) Bicyclists ride faster when in a group with other bicyclists. D) People are less likely to help a stranger in need when other people who could also potentially help are around.

Psychology

The amygdala is involved in all of the following EXCEPT

a. aggression. c. vigilance. b. fear. d. balance.

Psychology

A six-year-old child suddenly awakens in a state of extreme arousal accompanied by panicky screams. He is experiencing

a. somnambulism. b. sleep apnea. c. narcolepsy. d. a sleep terror.

Psychology