Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCS) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which a person has certain repetitive thoughts ( called "obsessions") and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly ( called "compulsions") to an extent that leads to suffering or impairs one's general functioning. The person is unable to control thoughts or activities for more than a short period of time. Common compulsions include excessive hand washing, counting things and checking whether a door is locked. These activities occur to such an extent that the person's daily life is negatively affected, often taking up more than an hour a day. Most adults realize that the behavior does not make sense. The disorder is associated with tics, anxiety disorders and an increased risk of suicide.
The cause is unknown. There appear to be some genetic components, with both identical twins being affected more often than both non-identical twins. Risk factors include a history of child abuse or other stress-inducing events. It has been documented that some cases occur after infections. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and requires ruling out other drug-related or medical causes. Rating scales such as the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) can be used to assess severity. Other disorders with similar symptoms include anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, eating disorders, tic disorders and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Treatment BeterKlinic
BeterKliniek is the clinic for Integrative Medicine that bridges regular and non-regular medicine.
An van Veen (physician) and Michael van Gils (therapist) look for the cause of a condition or disease. That is where the treatment starts otherwise, as people often say, it is 'carrying water to the sea'. We call this cause medicine. Sometimes it is also desirable to treat the symptoms (at the same time). We call this symptom medicine.
Chronic disorders often have their cause in epi- genetics. You can schedule a free informative telephone consultation (phone number 040-7117337 until 1 p.m.) at BeterKliniek to discuss your symptoms so that we can provide you with further advice.
