Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a Form of Anxiety Disorder - Essay Example

In the same way, individuals develop phobias after associating an emotionally neutral object with unpleasantness. For example, Kaylee’s past interactions with spiders might have been unpleasant making her associate spiders with fearful thoughts and feelings. Conversely, from a biological perspective, humans are innately hardwired to exhibit fear responses due to the “fright or flight mechanism” controlled by the pituitary gland. During an encounter with a fearful object, the pituitary gland directs the adrenal gland to secrete adrenaline, a hormone that regulates physiological reactions to a particular situation. For example, instinctively, Kaylee might have fled during her first encounter with a spider, which predetermined her future reactions to spiders.

            Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a form of anxiety disorder characterized by an individual’s preoccupation with obsessive thoughts and the display of compulsive behaviors triggered by anxiety-provoking stimuli. Obsessive compulsions can be learned in the same way phobias are learned (through classical conditioning). Conversely, from a biological perspective, OCD might result from chemical imbalances in the brain. Brain damage during accidents or intra-uterine genetic anomalies might cause these imbalances. Individuals afflicted with such a condition struggle to control their impulses. Finally, from a psychoanalytic perspective, past experiences during childhood might trigger OCD in an individual. More often than not, these experiences trigger aversive thoughts and feelings in an individual, which result in pent-up frustration. In an attempt to deal with the recurrent thoughts, an individual engages in repetitive, awkward behaviors. For example, Cecil might have had a bad experience when relating to women during childhood (such as rejection or bullying) triggering his preoccupation with cleaning before his girlfriend’s visit.