Man : Preoccupied (Obsession)



An obsession is a  
a. preoccupation of the mind 
b. with a fixed idea, unwanted feeling or emotion,
c. which is often followed by symptoms of anxiety.

Obsession or Intrusive thoughts, affect everyone. Some people can overcome this thought easily but not for some. 
People who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are 
i. plagued by intrusive thoughts that 
ii. they can't banish from their mind, 
iii. no matter how hard they try.
Obsessive-compulsives tortured the thoughts and effect the person emotions through distress, fear and concerns. 

The obsessions experienced by OCD sufferers can be grouped into:

More common than we thought
In the 1980s, about 2 in every 1,000 people were thought to be affected by OCD. Recent studies have revised this figure to 2 out of every 100 people. But it could be even more common, because sufferers often conceal the disorder from other people.
Due to fear of being misunderstood by others that they become very skillful at hiding their symptoms and can appear entirely normal. In other cases, symptoms can be so severe that sufferers receive disability compensation.

Thoughts

In life, 
a.  past events get stored as memories,   
b. recorded in unconscious storage and does all this 
c. in auto mode. 
Thoughts are generated based on the past incidents/memories, future projections and interpretations on the present life situation like a computer predicting or projection based on the data it have collected so far.
Past “external” and natural conditions interpret these memories and convert it as perceptions and judgment. All these interpretations, perceptions and judgments thoughts can either be positive or negative depending on the mind’s being condition.
  
Negative
   i. When thoughts are negative (thoughts of worry, anxiety, stress, lack, resentment, guilt etc) 
    ii. they will create a resistance to your life, and 
    iii. this resistance is felt as suffering. 
Negative thoughts will always resist to your life, like stumbling blocks of stone. Life is a stream with a pure positive energy and thus any negative thought will stand in opposed, causing friction which is felt as suffering in the body.
The thoughts in your mind gain power from your attention and interest. This attention is the fuel for your mind. 
Thus by giving in to negative thoughts in the mind, you are unconsciously lighting it and attracting to these negative thoughts. The negative thoughts in your mind will slow down, and diminished, when you stop feeding your attention to it. 
By staying away your attention on the negative thoughts of the mind, and the negative momentum will lose its power.
Obsessive/Intrusive Thought
Obsessive/Intrusive thoughts are negative unwelcome ideas, memories or traumatic flashbacks that repeatedly find their way into a person’s thinking.
This may include :
a. uncomfortable and disturbing thoughts about losing control,
b. committing violent or perverted acts,
c. fearing pain, fearing death or
d. hurting other people.
e. reliving unhappy or traumatic events and conversations,
f. suffering flashbacks of suppressed memories or
g. extreme anxiety about future events.

While it is normal for everyone to have unpleasant, fearful or disturbing thoughts on occasion, intrusive thoughts become a problem when the person cannot dismiss them or distinguish between what is real and what is imagined.

Causes and Symptoms

Common obsessions
  • Fears of contamination by germs, dirt or chemicals
  • Fears of flooding the house, causing a fire, or being burgled
  • Aggressive thoughts about physically harming a loved one
  • Fear of being black magic
  • Concerns about exactness or symmetry
  • Intrusive sexual thoughts or urges
  • Excessively doubting own morals or religious convictions
  • A need to tell, ask or confess
Daily rituals
·                Many of us carry out daily rituals or chores consisting of a series of tasks. For example, checking that all the doors and windows are locked before we go to bed at night is a routine that guards against burglary. But in OCD, these rituals spiral out of control.
·                OCD sufferers are driven to carry out complex rituals known as compulsions, which are triggered by obsessions. An obsessive-compulsive might check their doors and windows 50 to 100 times when an obsession about security gets stuck in their head. Obsessive-compulsives are completely powerless to control their compulsions.
Most OCD compulsions are logically related to their obsession. For instance, sufferers carry out cleaning rituals in order to rid themselves of contaminants.
Common compulsions
  • Cleaning - repeatedly washing hands or wiping household surfaces for hours on end
  • Checking - repeatedly questioning whether lights switches are turned off, or appliances are unplugged
  • Counting strings of numbers for hours on end
  • Afraid to enter house for fear of demons
  • Arranging - needing cutlery or furniture ordered in a certain way
  • Repeating words or sentences
  • Completing - performing a task in exact order again and again, until it is done perfectly (if they are interrupted, they often need to start all over again)
  • Hoarding - collecting useless objects
Obsessive personality
Researchers have found that people with OCD often have a particularly personality traits. These include:
  • Neuroticism - anxious and keen to avoid dangerous situations
  • Impulsivity - a tendency to engage in activities that bring instant gratification
  • Responsibility - an exaggerated sense of responsibility for their actions
  • Indecisiveness - a tendency to take time in making decisions
  • Perfectionism - a need to get everything to feel right


 Perfectionism is one of the most common personality traits in OCD. Indeed, some researchers have described obsessive-compulsives as the ultimate perfectionists.

Psychological Disorders

Obsessive/Intrusive thoughts can be more damaging when individuals with certain psychological disorders  are not capable of living a normal life. Rather than pushing aside the mental images from their mind, these individuals become focused on them. They are a major symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD)  and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
People with PTSD have experienced an extremely traumatic event that causes long-term psychological problems. 
Sufferers often have 
a. nightmares, 
b. flashbacks to the event, and 
c. intrusive memories and thoughts. 
They often feel angry and hopeless and distance themselves from family and friends; they may try to avoid situations that could trigger memories or flashbacks.
OCD is personalized by overwhelming obsessive ideas and fears. These intrusive thoughts may center on a fear of germs, a need for order, or something more aggressive or sexual. Individuals may act violently by these intrusive thoughts or become obsess over their fear of following through with them. For example, a person may become consumed with the idea of black magic and go to great lengths to avoid associations with others. People who have this disorder feel a very strong compulsion to follow through with their obsessions and can become extremely anxious if they cannot do so.

Treatments

Mental health experts say that a small amount of intrusive thinking is completely normal for most people. Individuals who are troubled by occasional disturbing thoughts typically don't need any professional help and are able to rationalize their thinking and move on relatively quickly. People who find that they cannot let go of these thoughts or who are unable to function normally should seek out treatment.
The three most common types of therapy for people who suffer from intrusive thoughts are
a.      Exposure therapy : helps the patient face his or her fears directly in a safe environment so that the person can learn how to handle it. It is a common therapy for people with PTSD
b.      Cognitive behavioral therapy  : Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches the patient to face his fears by vocalizing them or confiding the memories to a mental health professional, close friend or confidante. This therapy helps the patient recognize when his or her thinking is negative or inaccurate and figure out how to better cope with situations that trigger disturbing thoughts.
c.    Drug therapy. :  Many patients suffering from underlying mental or medical conditions are also treated with medication to help them deal with some of the immediate symptoms. Antidepressants  and anti-anxiety medications have been shown to help some people with OCD and PTSD. Anti-psychotic drugs may be used in severe cases, but the patient must be monitored for side effects or complications.
Minimizing
How do we eliminate or minimize obsessions? The following seven points can help to overcome these compulsions.
  1. Understand the area of obsessions that you are personally susceptible to. Embrace the knowledge that you have this emotional aspect which needs to be worked out.
  2. Recognize that there will be times in your life when stressful times occur, that allow you to overcome obsessions.
  3. The human body is like a personal laboratory. If you get obsessed by something or distraught, then it will turn against you health-wise and the body will express discomfort, aches or pains, disease, or allergy.
  4. The body will identify the elements you should stay away from. Also, the things you take excessively are likely to be the items that make you sick.
  5. Feeling good is important; zero in on what some of your obsessions are. Channel them, process them, and let them go. Get them out of your life so you can create a better temple of the Soul and a healthier body.
  6. Good health is the key to overall well-being.
  7. Unnecessary stress has its roots in being attached to things. We can worry about the things we are attached to—be it family, money, or job. This can cause obsessions. By allowing ourselves to be calm and meditative, the problem corrects itself, as we can forget about the money and let it go, because worry and stress only agitates you and doesn't help.

 Excerpt with thanks :
http://www.radioastrology.com/TFG/obsesion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/disorders/ocd
Sen - CalmDownMind.com
http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-With-Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder

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