Obsessions:
Introduction.
Perhaps you can identify with the following. Can you imagine doing something as simple as making a cup of tea, but wondering a hundred times or more if you put sugar or even water in it? Obsessions are thoughts or ideas which penetrate the foreground of the minds of its sufferers in which these thoughts or ideas are unable to be quenched or suppressed (stopped) and where the sufferer knows thay are not normal. Obsessions pierce the consciousnes and despite huge efforts to get rid of them, they just seem to remain. Obsessions are thoughts or ideas which have four (4) main characteristics. They are invasive or intrusive, recurrent, inappropriate and totally unwanted. The word ‘obsession’ seems to have a very different meaning in general society or public than what it does cliniacally speaking. Obsessions are thoughts in the mind that swamp and consume the sufferer in where they return again and again and again. As a former sufferer of severe OCD I used to wonder (or even believe) that I was a freak. Maybe you do too. I thought I was quirky. How could any normal person have such ‘stupid’ thoughts that keep coming back again and again? Maybe you question your sanity; I know I certainly did. Maybe you might think you are weird. I certainly thought I was (to say the least). So, is a person who is consumed by obsessions weird or quirky? Certainly NOT! In fact, people with OCD are quite normal. It is the fact that the brain sends faulty messages which all get ‘mixed-up’ as to what leads to obsessions and compulsions. There is nothing so bizarre about a person with OCD and anybody can have or experience intrusive thoughts, however a person with OCD has trouble controlling them.
The word ‘obsession’ comes from the words ‘to besiege’ (Ref. TTSR) and besiege means to surround somebody or something in large numbers in that it is unpleasant or annoying. Obsessions can be extremely unpleasant and can also be infuriating and incredibly frustrating to the sufferer. So, from the word ‘besiege’ we get the word “obsession’ and it clearly relates to surrounding or attacking something, or in the case of OCD of course it is a person. A person is attacked by obsessions; thoughts and ideas which come unwelcomed to the mind and in large numbers (hence, one of the properties of obsessions is that they are intrusive and another property of obsessions is that they are recurrent). Think of an army with a never-ending supply of troops which attack relentlessly and in huge numbers. A person flooded with obsessions could be likened to as an enemy like this who attacks again and again and doesn’t know how to stop or surrender.
Obsessions are recurrent and intrusive and this may not seem so strange to those who do not have or understand OCD. With OCD, it is the brain which shoots faulty messages and basically a person with OCD does not have an ability to process information in a normal or usual way (left untreated). Anyone can question whether they have put sugar in their tea or wonder if they remembered to turn the stove or oven off (among thousands and thousands of other hypothetical situations) or indeed even have thoughts that can be inappropriate such as stepping in front of an oncoming train, but a person without OCD has an ability to rationally process such thoughts and dismiss them. Obsessions are NOT easily dismissed by sufferers of OCD and it is due to ‘conflict’ in the brain (brain chemistry) in that it misfires. (More information about processes of the brain will be added later) 
Because the brain misfires, obsessions just seem to remain or can in fact even come back stronger. As mentioned, obsessions are recurrent and intrusive. They can be very inappropriate also, but also an important facet of obsessions is that they are 100% unwanted. They are of a different nature to addictions and other problems that people can have. Obsessions are ALWAYS unwelcomed and they bring no pleasure or relief what-so-ever.
Checklist:
Obsessions are-
* Recurrent
* Intrusive
* Inappropriate
* Unwanted.
What types of things (thoughts and ideas) do sufferers of OCD have then in relation to obsessions? Obsessions come in different forms as per the content or theme of the thoughts or ideas. Different types of obsessions include obsessions relatimng to:
* Contamination or filth
* Aggression or harm
* Lustful or sexual obsessions
* Blasphemy
* Pathological doubt
* Disgust with bodily finctions or waste
* Symmetry or order
* Need for reassurance
* Thinking specific images, words, nonsensical phrases, numbers or sounds.
(Ref…PA….)
This topic will be expanded on much more in future posts
For now, here is something a little different to obsessions
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All the best for now,
Paul.
