Title: Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.

One in every one hundred people is affected by Obsessive Compulsive Personality

Disorder. Even more are affected by its symptoms. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality
Disorder is a disorder which involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization,
which leads to routines and rules for ways of doing things. According to Dr. Steven
Phillipson, a person with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is comfortable with
their high standards and rigid mind set. In fact, a person with OCPD will justify their actions
instead of admitting any sort of problem, which they blame on the environment or external
circumstances. In order to recognize them, we will focus on the symptoms, the causes and
also the solution of this OCPD.

Preoccupation with details, rules, lists, organization, or schedules to the extent that
the major point of the activity is lost are the first symptoms of OCPD. They give too much
attention to trivial things, which makes their normal routines difficult to follow. A person with
this personality disorder has symptoms of perfectionism that usually begin in early
adulthood, which is about our age, and this kind of perfectionism can take a straight A
student and cause them to flunk out of college. Because they try to do everything perfectly,
they tend to delay their assignments and when they do, they cant complete them, because
their standards are so high. For example, some people affected by OCPD feel the need to
be obsessively clean and organized.

People with perfectionism that interferes with task completion are the second
symptom of OCPD. According to Dr. Steven Phillipson, getting things right and avoiding any
possibility of a mistake is very important to them. Due to this, they are often indecisive and
procrastinate. Their indecision often holds them back in life. For example, if they needed to
find a job, if given too many choices, they cant choose any, because none are just perfect.
Since making the right choice is impossible, it becomes a regular source of discontent. They
hold themselves to a very high standard which they cant possibly live up to. When they fail,
they hate themselves, and become depressed. According to professors at the Department of
Psychiatry at Brown University, they are generally pessimistic and depressed, since making
the right choice is so important, making even simple choices become a nightmare.
Sometimes they can lead to the point of suicide.

Overly stubborn and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values, and about
having things done exactly their way are the third symptoms often shows by some people
who are having OCPD. People with OCPD view all actions as either wrong or right, there is
no in between. Of course, the person with OCPD is always right. People with OCPD also
always feel the need to be right, which affects their personal relationships. They need to be
in control; when they arent, they withdraw emotionally. According to the cognitive model of
personality disorders, they think of themselves as responsible and hardworking.

The last symptoms are adopting a miserly spending style toward both self and others;
money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes. They are anxious
about things which may go wrong in their lives, and as a result, hoard large amounts of
money for emergency purposes. For them, money isnt something to enjoy; it provides them
a feeling of comfort of something to fall back on. Because of this, they minimize the amount
of money they spend in their day to day lives, which makes them seem cheap and stingy to
others.

These symptoms are fairly common individually, and many people who have them
dont have OCPD. The symptoms have only been recognizing if there is a cause that leads
to this disorder. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, no single specific
cause of OCPD has been found, however faulty parenting is known to be a major factor. In
studies, researchers found that people who have OCPD, as children were punished harshly
for every mistake, and rewarded for almost nothing.

On the other hand, OCPD is believed to be hereditary. According to the Handbook of

Medical Psychiatry, studies have shown that people with certain genes are more likely to
develop OCPD. But, it may not manifest itself until the person, who is predisposed to OCPD
is affected by an event or a circumstance which brings it out. In other words, some people
genetically predisposed to OCPD may never by affect by it at all.

Every disease has its own solution and some can be treated and the other may be
not. According to Barbara (2010), OCPD can be treated using three main techniques. First is
Psychotherapy. In this method suggest that we used cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
and techniques that improve a persons insight (for example, psychodynamic therapy) can
be helpful for some people. The goal is to lessen rigid expectations and learn how to value
close relationships, recreation, and fun with less emphasis on work and productivity.

The next step that had been proven by Morten Gudbjerg Karlsen in the article of
How I Control My Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is by the method called
relaxation or in depth breathing. She said that, No matter where you are you focus on your
breathing. Feel the air flow in though through your nose and out through your mouth. And
you can count your exhalations from one to ten over and over again. Thus, it will control
your personality to be calm at a certain time.
 The last techniques are Medication. Dr. Steve Bressert in their article Obsessive-
Compulsive Personality Disorder Treatment often said that in most cases, medication for
this disorder is not indicated unless the individuals is also suffering from another
psychiatric disorder. However, newer medications such as Prozac, an SSRI (Selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors), have been approved for the treatment of obsessive-
compulsive disorder and may provide some relief to individuals with the related
personality disorder. Long-term use, though, is rarely indicated, appropriate, or
beneficial.

In a nutshell, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is a disorder which

involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization, which leads to routines and
rules for ways of doing things. If you have all or some of these symptoms and they affect
your life negatively, you can get a treatment from the expert. In addition to the one in one
hundred people is affected by this disorder, many more who are affected by its symptoms
can get help too. With proper help, people with OCPD or its symptoms can control them and
lead a rich and fulfilling life. If you have one or more than two symptoms of OCPD, dont be
afraid to get some professional help, because prevent is better than cure.