Menatl Illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Menatl Illness - Essay Example For clarification purposes, OCD is a mental disorder which is not similar with having an Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts such as believing that a devil or another being could possibly harm them or their loved ones. Such thoughts results into behavior that seems paranoid such as being overly protective of people close to them. On the other hand, OCD personality disorder is more concerned with rules, standards, guidelines which makes a person a â€Å"perfectionist†. OCD is a mental disorder with two different but related components. These are intrusive thoughts, the â€Å"obsessive† part of the disorder, and repetitive behaviors, the â€Å"compulsive† part of the disorder (Rachman,2003, p.21). Aardema ( 2007) characterized OCD as ego-dystonic which meant that the individual’s elf-concept is not compatible with the disorder ( p.187). On the contrary, OCD personality disorder is ego-syntonic which is define d by Dorland’s Medical dictionary as â€Å" aspects of a persons thoughts, impulses, attitudes, and behavior that are felt to be acceptable and consistent with the self-conception.† All mental disorders can lead to serious consequences for the individuals who are affected by it. Perhaps among the mental illness known to man, OCD subjects the patients to casual and daily ridicule . There are countless jokes – on everything from sit-coms to sportscasts – about people washing their hands a la Lady Macbeth in an obsessive way. People make continual references to being obsessive or compulsive about one thing or another all the time in a way that to someone who actually struggles with OCD can feel slighting and incredibly dismissive. Those who have this condition, far from finding it a joke, can in fact find it crippling and are often deeply ashamed of their thoughts and behaviors As aforementioned, the disorders have both compulsive and