It affects one million people in Spain, and up to 18% of them also suffer from eating disorders.

Around 2% and 3% Spain’s population has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), that is, about a million people. This disorder is also sometimes associated with an eating disorder (ED): between 13% and 18% of people with OCD also have an eating disorder. According to the TCA Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit of the Sagrat Cor Hospital (Martorell). The World Health Organization (WHO) considers obsessive-compulsive disorder to be an often downplayed disorder. 10 most disabling pathologies.

OCD is determined by the presence obsessive thoughts and/or disturbing compulsions and repetitive. A person with OCD becomes obsessed with certain topics and repeats behaviors over and over, even knowing they are ineffective, in an attempt to prevent events that objectively unlikely. Example: Francisco Farrando, a 36-year-old OCD sufferer, cannot step on a street paving line because otherwise he feels something bad will happen to him. The same thing happened with Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets, where he plays mad writer Melvin Udall. There are other patients who TOC contamination: They are afraid to touch things for fear of getting germs, so they obsessively wash their hands.

TOC Association of Catalonia celebrated this Friday at Hospital Santa Creu and Sant Pau (Barcelona) II conference in Catalonia on OCD under the motto “OCD is not a small thing. Lluitem contra l’estigma’. For obsessive-compulsive disorder social gradient of disease

(i.e., the lower the income level, the higher the prevalence). Moreover, it is a mental disorder high comorbidity: many people also have anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and even eating disorders (ED). Francisco Farrando, for example, suffers from depression.

“OCD is a chronic disease that affects both men and women, children and adults. There are two ages at which it most often appears: childhood and early adolescence.”

Ramon Cobo

— Psychologist specializing in OCD

“OCD affects same for men and women. This is a disorder chronic, therefore it affects both children and adults. There are two ages at which it is most likely to appear: childhood and early adolescence. about 19 or 20 years old” explains a psychologist specializing in OCD Ramon Cobo, what’s behind, nearby Christina Morales, from the center Active presence whose goal is to take psychology out of the office and bring it closer to the patient’s environment.

“Trigger Events”

sometimes there is “trigger or stress events” that cause OCD. In the case of Francisco Farrando it was traffic accident. “Even so, people must have characteristics like genetics How environmental, this predisposes her to developing OCD. These are, as a rule, people with rigid thinking, very perfectionists, with difficulties in managing change… We also find many patients who have been victims of bullying, – Kobo adds. Despite this, he admits that this connection between OCD and bullying has not been described. “But we see in these patients that there is feeling helpless and out of control what makes a person adopt behavior in order to have feeling like you’re in control” speaks.

There are genetic and environmental factors, as well as “trigger events,” that can predispose a person to developing OCD.

obsessions They are also a feature of OCD. Miriam Pavo, 29 years old, has suffered from mental OCD since entering adolescence. He has many obsessions and is driven by theme. “There are times when I am very worried about some problem and I could spend years on this.

For example, I am very worried natural disasters. Or I slept in the mornings for many years because I couldn’t stand day after day, I was afraid of death,” he explains.

Mental disorders are increasing

Although experts do not feel that OCD is getting worse, it is improves the ability to diagnose it. “Mental disorders associated with anxiety increases, just like OCD,” says this psychologist, warning that this mental disorder can “complicate” the daily life of the person suffering from it. “A person spends a lot of time do these rituals, try to turn off the anxiety that your thoughts create and which causes you to stop doing many other things, such as interacting. “OCD leads to sick leave” – Kobo assures.

“OCD is one of the mental disorders that has the greatest impact on a person’s daily life.”

Nuria Harrieta

— Psychologist at the Sagrat Cor Hospital in Martorella

The psychologist says so too Nuria Harrieta Guarner, TCA Comprehensive Recovery Department Coordinator Hospital Sagrat Cor (Martorell): “OCD is one of the mental disorders it has the greatest impact on a person’s daily life. “There can be different degrees, and very high can be very limiting.”

As Jaurrieta explains, there is “comorbidity” of OCD with eating disorders. Between 13% and 18% of people with OCD also have an eating disorder. “Both pathologies have intense thoughts and behaves repetitive behavior explains Jaurrieta. In the case of TCA there is also “need for control” as in obsessive-compulsive disorder. But in addition, OCD is often associated with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Treatment and therapy

One of the most effective treatments for OCD is exposure and response prevention therapy (EPR therapy). “It’s about confronting fear, exposing ourselves to things that we obsessively think will go wrong, and not engaging in compulsive behavior. This is the response prevention: we prevent the behavioral response,” – says Kobo. For example, if a patient TOC pollution

and he believes that touching the door latch will get him infected, so he washes his hands afterwards, EPR therapy forces him expose yourself to this idea and don’t wash your hands. “Anxiety is gradually decreasing,” adds this psychologist. This therapy is also more effective if done at the patient’s home, since you can work with your “everyday items”.

Despite this, he explains that the most effective therapy at the moment is cognitive-behavioral with medication. A specific indicator of OCD is serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Despite everything, OCD, being chronic, is incurable. People, yes, sometimes in their lives there can be asymptomatic, with some There are very few obsessive ideas. “However, it is very easy for OCD to reappear when confronted with situation of crisis or uncertainty” – says Kobo. And he insists that early detection This is very important because if treatment is not started in time, anxiety can worsen.