"The symptoms of OCD symbolize the patient's unconscious struggle for control over

drives that are unacceptable at a conscious level," says Wayne K. Goodman (Preface to).

The subconscious is constantly turned on, even when conscious. OCD effects the brains of

2.2 million American adults (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.) These millions of adults

experience the crippling effect of OCD. OCD disrupts the natural thought pattern and leads

the thoughts down a path of anxiety and panic.

OCD stands for obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD is defined as an anxiety disorder

in which people experience undesirable and repetitious thoughts, feelings, ideas, or

sensations, obsessions, or behaviors that drive them to do something, compulsions.

Compulsions are the response of the repetitive thought. An example of obsessions is

collecting the full set of something, I collected all of Maybelline’s baby lips, and an example

of compulsions is turning the lights on and off until you feel you have completed the task.

Symptoms include repetitive thoughts and behaviors, spending hours a day on these

thoughts, and only experiencing relief when completing the tasks (Obsessive- Compulsive

Disorder.)

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that helps relay information from one

section of the brain to the other. The neurotransmitter affects mood, aggression, learning,

memory, appetite, and sleep. A deficiency in serotonin can lead to serious problems, like

OCD. Since serotonin acts a messenger of the brain, there is a likely component of the mind

that is being told to have more negative thoughts and engage in compulsive behaviors. A

deficiency of serotonin can lead to an increase in anxiety and OCD plays off anxiety.

Although Serotonin is a messenger for the brain, it can be mostly found in the digestive tract

(The Links Between OCD).

 I feel the effect of OCD every day. I personally suffer from OCD, but mainly from the

obsessive type. My mental health issues began to make an appearance when I was in fourth

grade. It all started with nightmares that I believed to be real. My nightmares would differ,

but the most common one was being stolen from my parents by an adult man. This dream

consisted of being in a public place, like Target, and an adult male approached me, while my

mom was in another aisle, and he would pick me up and walk out. I would start to kick and

scream “this man isn’t my father.” No one would bother to help me. After many episodes of

the same dream, I was completely convinced that if I went into public being stolen from my

parents would become true. I was utterly terrified that I didn’t attend school for two weeks

and refused to leave my house for three months. When I entered public again, I feared every

adult male that surrounded me and if a male even looked at me I thought he was going to

steal me from my mom. I experienced many panic attacks in stores in the passing years. I

was never kidnaped. When shopping without my parents, I, sometimes, find the thought

lingering in my head to this day. Although this happened while unconscious, I find my

obsessive thoughts increase while I am trying to fall asleep. After many years of struggling, I

realized that I have the super power of convincing myself of anything.

In the sixth grade, I, still, had trouble falling asleep because my mind would

continuously roam. Earlier that night, I was reading Anne Frank’s diary from World War 2.

My mind was stuck on the horrors of Hitler’s concentration camps and his wretched

qualities. Fast forward to about midnight, I needed to use the bathroom. The next thought in

my brain was what if Adolf Hitler was under my bed waiting for me to get out. That

suggestion scared me out of my mind. That night I fell asleep at four in the morning, with

school the next day, and never got up to go to the bathroom. The only time I would become
scared that Hitler might be under my bed was at night. In the moment and weeks after it

made sense to me that he could be under my bed. It never occurred to me that Adolf Hitler

died before Germany surrender in World War 2. I had to purchase and use a night light for

years after that one powerful thought. To this day, if I am walking at night in the dark the

thought still appears that Hitler could be walking right behind me; this often causes me to run

into my bedroom when shutting off the lights at night. In eleventh grade, I got over using a

night light to go sleep. In every moment that this thought appears, I know that it is

completely illogical, but my brain is prone to suggestion. Even when realizing the thoughts

are illogical, only coping with them is possible. The thoughts are unstoppable.

Individuals that aren’t diagnosed with the mind crippling disease often believe that

OCD doesn’t influence a brain when making every decision. A common thought about OCD

is that the people who have the illness are continuously cleaning and reorganizing (Nicole

M.). That we have spotless rooms, we are always cleaning, and everything we own must be

organized in a certain way. I call my room a dumpster because that is how it looks 90 percent

of the time. There is much more to the disease, like washing your hands until they bleed.

I will remain in a constant battle with my brain due to OCD. The disease makes it

hard for me to decipher between what is real and what is fake. On top of that, if anxious

thoughts occur, the thoughts are increased in severity due to OCD. I must fight harder to

make it through the day because the irrational thoughts pour in. I am accustomed to an

altered thought process that I can’t imagine my brain without OCD. Thoughts and thoughts

charge into the brain having to go through OCD cortex before being processed and changed

into unimaginable things that can stop someone in their tracks.

 Works Cited

Katz, Jeremy. "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Can Be Controlled." Behavioral Disorders, edited by Louise I.

Gerdes, Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010640221/OVIC?u=vbcps&xid=d072460e. Accessed 15 Apr. 2017.

Originally published as "Are You Crazy Enough to Succeed?" Mens Health, vol. 23, July-Aug. 2008, p.

150.

M., Nicole, Meghan Ross, and LMSW Elizabeth McIngvale Ph.D. "Don't Say You Have OCD Just Because

You Like Things Clean." The Mighty. The Mighty Proud Media, Inc., 14 Apr. 2015. Web.

https://themighty.com/2015/04/dont-say-you-have-ocd-just-because-you-like-things-clean1/. Accessed

15 Apr. 2017

"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 23 Mar. 2017. Web.

psychologytoday.com/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder. Accessed 3 Apr. 2017

"Preface to 'What Factors Contribute to Behavioral Disorders?'." Behavioral Disorders, edited by Roman Espejo,

Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010640130/OVIC?u=vbcps&xid=bcd3327c. Accessed 15 Apr. 2017

"The Link Between OCD and Serotonin Deficiency." The Links Between OCD and Serotonin Deficiency.

Clam Clinic, n.d. Web. http://www.calmclinic.com/ocd/serotonin-deficiency. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017