OCD, Addiction and Excellence

When the signs and symptoms of the obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder or personality disorder (OCD) are compared to the signs and symptoms of addiction, there's a striking similarity. Both involve obsessive thoughts, compulsive behavior and anxiety.

OCD has been depicted in movies such as "As Good As It Gets" staring Jack Nicholson, and in the TV series "Monk" staring Tony Shalhoub. In both of these dramas the leading OCD sufferer is dealing with a fear of dirt and germs as well as ritual behaviors. This compels them to make wash their hands repeatedly and refuse to touch doorknobs or shake hands. They are also compelled to follow certain ritualistic behaviors.

There are other symptom which OCD may present including:

Fear of being embarrassed or of socially misbehaving.

Fear of thinking evil or sinful thoughts.

Seeking order, symmetry, or exactness.

Excessive doubt and the need for constant reassurance.

Repeatedly checking things, such as locks or stoves.

Constantly counting while performing routine tasks.

Needing to arrange things in a certain way.

Eating foods in a specific order.

Repetitious thinking of disturbing thoughts, words or images.

Repeating specific words, phrases, or prayers out loud.

Needing to perform tasks a certain specific number of times.

Collecting or hoarding things of little or no value.

Addictions follow much the same pattern. The easiest way to talk about addictions is through a common example such as smoking. This is a common addiction of many seemingly normal people. However, the behavior of a smoker looks like an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

When smoking is prohibited, a smoker obsessively thinks about having a cigarette. The compulsion to smoke is strong enough to pull a smoker out of the theater or away from the dinner table for a cigarette. If he can't get that cigarette, he becomes agitated, irritable and anxious. If you haven't experienced it, you've observed it in others. It's an Obsessive Compulsive anxiety Disorder. These same behaviors can be observed in alcohol addiction, drug addiction as well as other forms of addiction.

Those suffering with an addiction know what they're doing is not logical. Logically, a person should "Just say No." The problem is that if they don't wash or check; if they don't smoke or drink, the anxiety becomes intolerable. One result is that a person with OCD learns that logic doesn't help and they turn away from logic when it comes to their compulsions. The same is true of a smoker, an alcoholic or any other addicted person. They learn that logic doesn't count. It doesn't work to just say no.

There are frequent references to an "addictive personality." That personality is the OCD personality. The person who seems a bit too concerned about orderliness, or cleanliness, who becomes irritable when things are in disarray; the person who just can't seem to let go of a topic, or leave a task undone until tomorrow. At that point, this personality trait isn't a problem. However, that's the person who is more susceptible to becoming addicted to a substance.

It's worth noting here that excellence and OCD usually occur together. Most highly successful executives, artists, writers, musicians, scientists could be included in the category of addictive personalities. These are people who obsess about their project, work on it compulsively, and become irritable and anxious when anything interferes with their work. They also have a high incidence of addictions.

Certain chemicals can induce OCD. Nicotine is perhaps the most thoroughly studied of such substances. Some may remember the tobacco company CEOs standing before congress and swearing that they didn't believe tobacco to be addicting. However, investigation reveled that tobacco companies had been experimenting with ways to make their product even more addicting.

Since OCD can be induced chemically, it can also be treated chemically. One of the first medications used for this disorder, Fluoxetine or Prozac. This medication, in a double blind experiment, was found to greatly reduce alcohol consumption by active alcoholics with no other form of intervention. This research was presented in a 1989 issue of the American Psychiatric Journal. Since Prozac works with addictions it also has proven effective in the treatment of OCD.

Those of us who experience symptoms of OCD, before going out to get some medication to lessen the symptoms, consider an alternative strategy. Since it's our nature to overdo what ever we choose to do and to obsess about what we choose to give attention to; only give attention to those things and only choose to be involved in projects that make life better. Most importantly, avoid those substances that people commonly become addicted to. Those substances will increase your OCD tendencies and very likely get you hooked. After all, addictions are chemically induced obsessive-compulsive disorders.