We’ve probably all heard people jokingly or proudly describe their habit of meticulously rearranging their bookshelves or taking an incredibly long time to clean their bathroom as “a bit OCD.”
Most people have a rough idea of what OCD is, but it tends to be thought of as a behavioral quirk. In fact, the condition is characterized by intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors that cannot be stopped, and it is debilitating for the 1-3% of the world’s population that are affected.
In this light, the “kind of OCD” joke risks trivializing illnesses as serious as schizophrenia or depression. This misuse of the phrase may reflect our ignorance about OCD. But as we explore in “New Understanding of OCD Paves the Way for New Treatments,” we are now discovering more about how OCD manifests in the brain, which is influencing how we think about the illness.
It’s true that obsessions and compulsions exist in all of us to some degree — maybe you run back into the house to make sure the front door is locked, or you can’t help but think about an upcoming stressful event. In fact, many of the symptoms of OCD seem to represent distortions of beneficial behavior. But imagine what it would be like if the intrusive thoughts and urges to act were unstoppable. That’s the hallmark of OCD.
It is becoming clear that OCD is a complex condition that involves the immune system.
Thanks to decades of research into the mechanisms underlying this disease, we now know that entire brain networks are affected, causing a significant imbalance in the neurotransmitters that transmit signals around them, and that the disease is more complex than we thought, with the immune system and gut bacteria also playing a role.
These insights into the body and brain causes of OCD are paving the way for much-needed new treatments for people who don’t respond to current first-line therapies. But what’s clear is that OCD is an incredibly distressing condition, and we’re only just beginning to address the problem. It’s time to stop kidding ourselves.
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