Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Is Triggered By Fear Of Self, Study Reveals

A study shows that people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have fears on the kind of person they might be.

The study was published in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. It was led by Gabriele Melli, Frederick Aardema and Richard Moulding. The study showed that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked with vulnerable self-themes and fear-of-self concerns.

The study involved 76 participants, who were diagnosed with OCD. They were examined by the researchers at a private clinic in Italy. They asked the participants about their OCD-related symptoms. These include their anxiety, depression and their self-related fears.

The participants rated the statements such as: "I am afraid of the kind of person I could be"; "I fear perhaps being a fierce, crazy person"; and "I often doubt that I am a good person." The researchers discovered that a greater fear of the self-was linked with having more unacceptable and disgusting thoughts. The results of the study are preliminary and the researchers believe there could be significant clinical insights here, according  to Research Digest.

The results of the study were also built on the previous research. These studies indicated that people diagnosed with OCD are more unclear than healthy controls about their self-concept. They also found that people with OCD find disturbing thoughts more troubling when they seem to disprove a valued aspect of their sense of self.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is distinguished by unreasonable thoughts and fears, which includes obsessions. This leads in doing repetitive behaviors or compulsions. People with OCD, may or may not realize that their obsessions aren't reasonable. They may try to ignore or stop them. On the other hand, this increases their distress and anxiety. Then, they feel driven to do some compulsive acts in an effort to relieve their stressful feelings.

One of its symptoms is having the fear of getting contaminated by germs. To relieve their fears, they would compulsively wash their hands until they're sore. Some other symptoms include images of hurting oneself, doubts that you've locked the door or turned off the stove, thoughts about shouting obscenities or acting inappropriately, intense stress when objects aren't orderly, distress about unpleasant sexual images that are repeating in one's mind and avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands.