Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder found in persons who have certain thoughts repeatedly called obsessions. The need to perform certain routines repeatedly are called compulsions. This may occur when a person is unable to control either their thoughts or activities for more than a short period of time. The typical obsessions are fear of contamination or dirt, needing things orderly and symmetrical, aggressive or horrific thoughts about harming self or others, unwanted thoughts, including aggression, sexual acts or religious subjects and more. For example fearing that family members might get hurt if they don’t put their clothing on in the exact same order every morning, fear of being contaminated by touching object others have touched, worry about whether one has remembered to lock the door or turned off the stove, intense stress when objects aren’t orderly or facing a certain way, visions of hurting one’s self or someone else, uncomfortable thoughts about shouting obscenities or acting inappropriately, avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands, distress about unpleasant sexual images repeating in the mind.

The common compulsions include washing, cleaning, checking, counting, orderliness, following strict routines and demanding reassurance. These may manifest as hand washing until the skin becomes raw, checking door repeatedly to make sure it is locked; checking the stove repeatedly to make sure it is off, counting in certain patterns, silently repeating a prayer word or phrase, arranging the canned goods to face the same way and a myriad of other behaviors. Some may have difficulty throwing things out. These thoughts and activities occur to such a degree that daily life is negatively affected and causes significant distress. Despite efforts to ignore or get rid of bothersome thoughts or urges, they keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior, the vicious cycle of OCD. Physical and emotional stress can make OCD worse. In the clinic OCD usually begins as a teen or young adult or in the senior adult years, especially when hormones are changing. Symptoms usually begin gradually and tend to vary in severity throughout life. OCD usually has mild to moderate symptoms, but may be so severe and time consuming that it becomes disabling. It is not clear where OCD comes from. It may be related to family history, genes or health problems, such as depression, anxiety, diabetes, menopause, trauma, a history of physical or sexual abuse or being bullied as a child.

OCD is related to an imbalance in the liver, the stomach and the spleen, also a weakness of the lungs, the kidneys or heart. Basically, stagnation of the life force energy, and is magnified by unhealthy food and drink, improper life style and more. Relief can be found with Acupressure, Acupuncture, Reiki and other complementary healing methods that improve the body’s function, and using tuning forks to balance the organs, improves sleep and brings healing to the body areas in stress.

It is important to eat adequate protein, a variety of vegetables and limit carbohydrates and fruits every day. A diet rich in fish, chicken, tofu, nuts, seeds, eggs, kale, cabbage, carrots, celery, zucchini, radishes, onions, ginger, garlic, apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, millet, quinoa, barley and whole grains help to balance OCD behavior. Eat and sleep on a regular schedule. Exercise every day, but avoid yoga, do Tai Chi instead or Qi Gong. Avoid scary movies, instead read books of a spiritual nature. Take up knitting, dancing or singing, and remember to have fun. Have healing treatments regularly to improve physical and mental functions. Enjoy life to the fullest every day and smile.