 OCD is a mental condition in which a person has unwanted, intrusive, and repetitive thoughts that become obsessions. These obsessions then make them do things that relieve them from these thoughts, a behavior known as a compulsion. This is why it's called obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD tends to develop most frequently in children 10 to 14 years of age, with symptoms that range across a wide spectrum. Some just have repetitive thoughts, others experience extreme obsessions that make living a normal life difficult. For many, it comes and goes in waves. Symptoms of OCD are often grouped into four factors – symmetry, forbidden thoughts, cleaning, and hoarding. Some might experience other symptoms, and still others a mix of multiple factors. Miko, Ann, Jane, and Joe each have their own version of OCD. Miko is obsessed with symmetry and he can spend hours sorting books, and whenever he enters his library, he has to leave it the exact way that he came in – backward. Ann began having forbidden negative thoughts after she lost her mum, ever since she's constantly afraid that others around her might die, including herself. Her forbidden thoughts can strike at any time, her heart starts pounding and a terrifying image crosses her mind. To make them go away, she starts biting her nails until they bleed. Jane is obsessed with cleanliness and gets anxious when things appear dirty. She washes her hands like 50 times a day, and when she's done, she washes the soap too because in her world everything is covered in germs, especially the things she touches. Joe is constantly thinking about losing things, and to relieve his anxiety he begins hoarding. When leaving his house, he checks the lock on the door again and again, then five minutes later he starts wondering if he's closed the windows, and so he returns, thinking he was so obsessed about locking the door that he might have missed the windows. So how come that in a group of people, just some have OCD? People with OCD are often born with a genetic predisposition, with about one in four having an immediate family member with the disorder. At some point in life, environmental factors, such as childhood trauma, can initiate the onset of OCD or exacerbate its intensity. While the neurobiological origins are still being studied, brain areas regulating thought processing may be disrupted in minds with the disorder. As a result, their thoughts can't shift properly and instead get stuck, repeated, and lead to a loss of control. Someone who has to check if they lock the door over and over again has the thought, did I lock, repeating endlessly without being resolved? While obsessions just seem to appear in one's head, compulsions are learned responses that help reduce the anxiety associated with intrusive thoughts. So if Jane experiences an ever-present fear of germs, she reduces her anxiety by washing her hands. Because this ritual temporarily offers relief, the probability that she will do it again is increased. Once the OCD cycle is established, obsessions lead to anxiety which triggers the compulsion that brings the relief, and then it starts again. As a result, compulsive behavior not only persists but actually becomes excessive, often with negative consequences and makes living a normal life impossible. When you begin having OCD, you often aren't aware of it and, as a result, some of the terrible thoughts in your brain lead you to believe that you are a bad person. This is why it's important to seek professional help to understand and eventually quiet the brain. What kind of OCD includes cognitive behavioral therapy to overcome intrusive thoughts by not indulging in any compulsions, rumination, focused exposure with response prevention that focuses on obsessions, medication, or nicknaming to relabel, reattribute, refocus, and revalue your thoughts. What about you? Have you ever experienced obsessive thoughts? And if so, what kind of compulsions did you turn to? Please share your insights and strategies for dealing with your mental monster in the comments below.