by Bryan Sherwood

Created on: March 09, 2009   Last Updated: March 19, 2009

"Isobel is intelligent, but she is failing her first period class in biology because she is either late to class or absent. She gets up at five o'clock, hoping to get to school on time. The next three hours are spent taking a long shower followed by changing clothes repeatedly until it feels right.' She finally packs and repacks her books until they are just right, opens the front door and prepares to walk down the front steps. She goes through a ritual of pausing on each step for a particular length of time. Once she has completed these rituals, she makes a mad dash for school and arrives when first period is almost over" (healthieryou.com).

One wonders why Isobel performs these senseless rituals. The answer is because she is one of the tens of millions who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. An analysis of OCD reveals that it affects the daily lives of both the victim and the people around them, despite the fact that the disorder can be helped through therapy and medication.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder can be a potentially disabling anxiety disorder that is characterized by multiple things. Obsessions and compulsions are the two most obvious symptoms which characterize OCD, although the two are not always found together. As Encyclopedia Britannica Online states, "Obsessions are recurring or persistent thoughts, images, or impulses that, rather than being voluntarily produced, seem to invade a person's consciousness despite his attempts to ignore, suppress, or control them." These obsessions usually include things like an irrational fear of germs or a fear of hurting oneself or others and can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety.

Compulsions, or ritualized actions that follow obsessions, are performed to temporarily relieve stress and attempt to prevent harmful events. The sufferer usually realizes that their thoughts and actions are unrealistic, but on another level, fears that they may be true (answers.com). OCD symptoms tend to last for decades and may even persist throughout a person's life. The symptoms usually worsen with stress and age and may become more or less severe from time to time. The presence of obsessions and compulsions indicate that an individual suffers from OCD.

However, those with OCD should not be confused with a much larger group of individuals who are sometimes called "compulsive" because they hold themselves to a high standard of performance. This type of "compulsiveness" often serves a valuable purpose, contributing

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