Causes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Despite comprehensive research carried out to know the exact causes of obsessive compulsive disorder, many have failed to gain a proper answer. It can be stated that along with psychiatric conditions there might be other factors that come into play in causing Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The causes of Obsessive Compulsive disorder seem to be neurobiological. However, some psychological and behavioral patterns can also lead to OCD. It is said that it mainly happens due to the deficiency or disturbance in the metabolism of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter substance in the brain. Obsessions and compulsions are the two major

symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder. However, recent research indicates that there lies an Obsessive-compulsive disorder neuro-circuit in the brain that involves three brain structures such as the thalamus, caudate nucleus and the orbit frontal cortex. These structures form a loop or a circuit, which are overly active, and most commonly found in the people suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Another structure of brain that leads to obsessive-compulsive disorder is the anterior cingulated gyrus. This cingulate carries out the main function of providing you great amounts of flexibility. It helps you to shift your attention from one topic to another. Whenever there is an imbalance of this cingulate or whenever it is not functioning up to its mark then you are locked or easily stuck on something, which is the case in the act of obsessing something.

There are also some psychological factors responsible for causing OCD, the two well known ones are cognitive and behavior theories.

1. Cognitive theory: This mainly focuses on how people who have OCD are not able to interpret their thoughts. This theory states that obsessions in people develop due to the following beliefs. Let us take an example here, parents who experience stress by looking after an infant may be affected by a thought of harming the infant. People with OCD might blow this thought out of proportion

• The belief that certain thoughts are important and need to be controlled
• The thought that one has to be a perfectionist and avoid almost any kind of mistakes
• The ability to believe that by having an urge or thought to do something increases the chances of it of coming true.


2. Behavioral theory: The behavioral theory stipulates that people with Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) relate certain situations and objects with fear and hence preclude that performing the rituals might help in reducing their fear. This mainly happens when people are under heavy emotional stress such as end of a relationship or starting up a new job. In these circumstances, people become more susceptible towards anxiety and fear. For instance, a person who has been regularly using public toilets may suddenly stop using it under stress by drawing a nexus between the toilet seat and the fear of getting affected by an illness.

There is no need to panic if you have an obsessive-compulsive disorder; this is because, treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder exists and can easily help you in getting rid of the obsessions.

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