Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a condition where a person has persistent, uncontrollable, recurring thoughts and/or ritualistic behaviors that they repeat over and over. OCD starts in the subconscious brain with implicit memories, fears, and beliefs from the past. These intrusive thoughts make a person feel uncomfortable, anxious, or a sense of doom or dread. In an effort to ease the unpleasant feelings, they behave in automatic, habitual ways, like washing their hands, checking locks, or counting things.
OCD comes in many forms, but most cases fall into one of four general categories:
● Checking: such as locks, alarm systems, ovens, or light switches, or think you have a medical condition like pregnancy.
● Contamination: fearing things might be dirty or a compulsion to clean. Mental contamination involves feeling like you’ve been treated like dirt.
● Symmetry and ordering: the need to have things lined up in a certain way.
● Ruminations and intrusive thoughts: an obsession with a line of thought. Some of these thoughts might be violent or disturbing.
Brain scans show that people with OCD tend to exhibit one of two types of brain activity, either an overactive or a sleepy brain.
Contamination, checking, order and symmetry, and intrusive thoughts are generally the result of an overactive frontal lobe and basal ganglia. On the other hand, some obsessive behaviors, such as hoarding, can be the result of a brain that is underactive in some areas.
OCD is a vicious loop inside someone’s brain that has formed because of neuroplasticity.The more you think a thought or complete a behavior, the more firmly that pathway gets connected and etched into your brain, and it becomes easier for your brain to return to it. A brain region known as the striatum, which is involved in decision-making and motor control, is thought to play a key role in OCD.
Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) is a clinical diagnosis given to children who have a dramatic — sometimes overnight —– onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms, which may include OCD behaviors or things like severe food restriction. Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) is a subset of PANS that appears in children following exposure to strep infection.
OCD and these other conditions do not have to control a person’s life. The answer to easing these compulsions lies in changing the brain. One research report showed that all 36 patients who received neurofeedback training for OCD showed improvement.¹ More than two years later, most people had maintained the improvements in their symptoms.
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Sources: 1. Sürmeli T, Ertem A. Obsessive compulsive disorder and the efficacy of qEEG-guided neurofeedback treatment: a case series. Clin EEG Neurosci. 2011 Jul;42(3):195-201. doi: 10.1177/155005941104200310. PMID: 21870473.