Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a psychological anxiety disorder, there is the obsession and then the compulsion to try to resolve the obsession. An obsession is an unstoppable thought, just like an error signal: "obsessions involve persistent and recurring intrusive thoughts, images or impulses that are experienced as disturbing, inappropriate and uncontrollable." (Butcher 202). While a compulsion is a thought or action designed to rid oneself of the obsession that afflicts the person with the disorder, "compulsions can involve either blatantly repetitive behaviors that are performed in the form of lengthy rituals, or mental rituals more secret. » (Boucher 202). The prevalence of this disorder is placed "between one and three percent, although the prevalence of clinically recognized OCD is much lower." (Ramasamy 2). OCD is an anxiety disorder that is taken very seriously, with symptoms so life-changing that affected individuals face functional impairments in their lives. When diagnosing someone with OCD, it is very easy to tell because of the symptoms. The symptoms of OCD are the obsession and compulsion themselves, each contributing to the overall disorder. “Within and among individuals, initial obsessions, or intrusive thoughts, vary in their clarity and vividness. A relatively vague obsession might involve a general feeling of helplessness or tension accompanied by the belief that life cannot proceed normally as long as the imbalance persists. (Ramasamy 3). Compulsion is the brain's natural way of trying to resolve the obsession, by performing a certain ritual and/or repetitive behavior to compensate for the error code running through the mind. Duress works like a faulty reset. The etiology of OCD is biological in nature and in...... middle of paper ...... treatment elsewhere, although still in the experimental phase there is a significant success rate. In the future, the treatment and treatment of OCD will change and become easier to overcome with ongoing research. The class information, my sources, and other research all parallel each other and offer much of the same information. Works Cited Butcher, James Neal, Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley. Abnormal psychology. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print. Decloedt, Eric H. and Dan J. Stein. “Current trends in drug treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. US National Library of Medicine, May 25, 2010. Web. March 26, 2014. Ramasamy, Revathee, Wayan Westa and Nyoman Ratep. “E-Jurnal Udayana Medica.” OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER. Udayana University, 2013. Web. March 26. 2014.