Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about obsessive compulsive disorder.

And you can find written notes on this topic at 0.5.com slash obsessive compulsive disorder

or in the psychiatry section of the 0.0 to finals more medicine book.

And you can find questions to train your knowledge on this content

and help you remember the information for longer at members.0.0.com.

So let's get straight into it.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is characterized by obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are unwanted and uncontrolled thoughts and intrusive images that the person finds

very difficult to ignore. Examples of this are an overwhelming fear of contamination with dirt or germs

or violent or explicit images that keep appearing in the mind. Compulsions are repetitive actions that the person feels they must do, generating anxiety if

they're not done.

Often these compulsions are a way for the person to handle their obsessions.

For example, they check that all the electrical equipment is turned off to settle

the anxiety of obsessing about the house burning down from an electrical fire. Although this

behaviour can be normal and appropriate, a person with OCD may check every plug in the house

10 times before they feel reassured.

The obsessions and compulsions are present daily and are not something the person will enjoy or do

willingly. They impact other areas of life such as their social life or other interests.

Let's talk about the OCD cycle.

There is a cycle in OCD.

The first step in the cycle is the obsessions.

...