obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

“I couldn’t touch any door or countertop in public areas. I knew it didn’t make any sense, but I was terrified of germs that could kill me. I almost couldn’t go out in public. I was so afraid. If I touched anything, I had to wash myself for hours. Sometimes I washed so much that my skin would become red, raw and bleed.” People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are entrapped in recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or rituals (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as

handwashing, counting, checking or cleaning are often performed in the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary relief. Not performing them markedly increases anxiety. The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and the rituals that are performed to try to prevent or dispel them are compulsions.

A lot of healthy people can identify themselves with having some of the symptoms of OCD, such as checking the gas-stove several times before leaving the house. But the disorder is diagnosed only when such activities consume at least an hour a day, are very distressing, and interfere with daily life. OCD can start any time, from pre-school age to adulthood (usually around age 40). One-third to one-half of adults with OCD report that it started during childhood. Although no specific genes for OCD have yet been identified, research suggests that genes do play a role in the development of the disorder in some cases. The OCD-onset during childhood tends to run in families. When a parent has OCD, there is a slightly increased chance that a child will develop OCD, although the risk is still low. When OCD runs in families, it is the general nature of OCD that seems to be inherited, not specific symptoms. Thus, a child may have checking rituals while his mother washes compulsively.

OCD is usually considered to have both psychological and neurobiological components. Having insufficient levels of serotinin (a neurochemical found in the brain) is one of the neurobiological factors. Among the psychological factors Freud’s (an Austrian psychoanalyst) theory of suppression of mental traumas in the past or childhood leading to such chronic anxiety states is one of the main ones.

Many of the important homeopathic medicines are often used very successfully in treating such chronic anxiety disorders. Among them are Syphillinum, Carcinocin, Nux Vomica and Pulsatilla. Although not mentioned in classical texts, in my own clinical experience Sepia finds a great place in treating OCD when symptoms aggravate at the menstrual nisus. And homoeopathic treatment is much more than these medicines; at times a thorough psychoanalysis is necessary to understand the origins of OCD.

While treating such disorders modern homoeopaths, like psychoanalysts, dig deep into the patient’s psyche. They understand Sigmund Freud’s uncovering of the sublimated and unconscious nature of psychological disorders, and Carl Jung’s interpretations of how these sublimated psychological patterns contain symbolic representations of transpersonal unconscious materials. They also understand Wilhelm Reich’s perspective as to how these impressions are locked into actual physical states. They are able to apply them with success for the relief of persons suffering from OCD.