OCD is like an unwelcome guest with bad manners. It moves into a mind — and it doesn’t want to leave.
Students with OCD may appear to be daydreaming, distracted, disinterested, or even lazy. They may seem unfocused and unable to concentrate. But they are really very busy focusing on their nagging urges or confusing, stressful, and sometimes terrifying OCD thoughts and images. They may also be focused on completing rituals, either overtly or covertly, to relieve their distress.
Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Scott Stossel, author of My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind, presents the history and efforts to understand an affliction that is pervasive yet often misunderstood. Watch his conversation with talk show host Mimi Geerges.
Posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is diagnosed after a person experiences symptoms for at least one month following a traumatic event. The disorder is characterized by three main types of symptoms:
People often jokingly point to odd habits or tidiness as signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. But the truth is OCD is a very real disorder that affects more than 2 million Americans, and there is a big difference between maintaining a morning routine or keeping a clean home and living with the disorder.
Ten years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks many people continue to struggle with symptoms of anxiety, stress and even posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Anticipating the arrival of a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or any severe storm strikes fear and anxiety in the people in its path for good reason. Natural disasters disrupt lives in significant ways, including creating physical and mental health problems and major economic challenges. And the never-ending news about a storm’s arrival may increase your anxiety, stress, and fear.
Psychologist Dr. Douglas Mennin discusses how to understand anxiety disorders.
TV personality and actor Howie Mandel shares his struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a public service announcement for the ADAA campaign "Treat It, Don't Repeat It: Break Free From OCD."
My name is Abigail Hills and I am an illustration major at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. I was in a car accident, a few years ago, and suffered a hit to the head. Since then I have been dealing with varying degrees of anxiety and depression. At first I didn’t understand what was going on. All I knew was that I was constantly worrying about things that had never bothered me before, and sometimes I did not want to be around people, or d