Running head: OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Student’s name
Course title
Date
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Write about the situation that you felt you handled well. What did you do? Provide
justification and reasoning for your actions. This commentary should include a reference to
relevant course content or research
During the course of last week, I came across a patient with obsessive compulsive
disorder. The patient was a twenty years old girl and she was already in depression. The patient
was so introverted, she did not want to interact with anyone of the opposite gender, stressed, and
she looked disturbed and unsettled. These are some of the symptoms of advanced cases of
obsessive compulsive disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is a common, long lasting, and
very chronic disorder whereby the victim has reoccurring thoughts which the person cannot
control and behaviors that that person feels like repeating over and over again (De Silva, 2014).
From the moment I started interacting with the patient, I realized that she was having suicidal
thoughts and she was traumatized as well. After a few moments of engagement with her, it came
to my attention that the younger sibling of this patient also exhibited some of the onset symptoms
of obsessive compulsive disorder.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
One of the things that I know I performed well is the way I carried out the diagnosis
process. Gender is a significant factor that should be considered keenly when handling OCD
patients. Differences in gender may be on basis of psychological, biomedical, or epidemiological
factors. The right and left cerebral hemispheres are different in males and females. Consequently,
males and females have a difference in structural and functional central nervous system (Cath et
al., 2017). Therefore, because of this difference, females are more vulnerable to stressors and
depressors. I used this aspect of gender to make the right diagnosis. Most of the times, the
symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder go unnoticed or misdiagnosed.
In cases where OCD goes untreated, it may worsen up hence leading to more severe
effects to the patient like depression. A person may have reoccurrence of very bad and
traumatizing thoughts and events and they may lead to severe depression. Depression is a very
serious mental disorder that can even lead to death if the victim decides to commit suicide
(Anholt et al., 2014). This was the case with my patient. I realized that she has been ignoring the
symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder and it had now worsened. Another thing that I
believe I did well is the skills I used to get down to the root of the problem. I interviewed the
patient about the events that always appear in her head and how she feels about them, I also
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
engaged the other family members on the same. I came to realize that the patient was raped at the
age of five years and it has always been a traumatizing event to her. I also enquired about the
other sibling’s medical report and I assessed him through interview. I found out that, the boy
went through physical abuse by his uncle and he has always been thinking about it and he is
always in fear. This information made me believe more on my diagnosis because obsessive
compulsive disorder is also genetic.
Treatment is another thing that I believe I did well. I have enrolled the patient for a
cognitive behavior therapy, introduced her to a support group, and also coached her on self care.
The situation is at the extreme stages and therefore she needs the best of treatment and care to
end the symptoms as fast as possible. Cognitive behavior therapy works on the basis that
negative interpretations of disturbing thoughts, doubts, images, and impulses are crucial for both
the experience of distress and for the motivation towards suppression of thoughts, neutralizing
behaviors, searching for reassurance, and avoidance (Hezel & McNally 2016).
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
References
Anholt, G. E., Aderka, I. M., Van Balkom, A. J. L. M., Smit, J. H., Schruers, K., Van Der Wee,
N. J. A., ... & Van Oppen, P. (2014). Age of onset in obsessive–compulsive disorder:
admixture analysis with a large sample.?Psychological medicine,?44(1), 185-194.
Cath, D. C., Nizar, K., Boomsma, D., & Mathews, C. A. (2017). Age-specific prevalence of
hoarding and obsessive compulsive disorder: a population-based study.?The American
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,?25(3), 245-255.
De Silva, P. (2014). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. In?Adult Psychological Problems?(pp. 143-
162). Taylor & Francis.
Hezel, D. M., & McNally, R. J. (2016). A theoretical review of cognitive biases and deficits in
obsessive–compulsive disorder.Biological psychology,?121, 221-232.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
