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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Neat Freak

-Ask the Expert-

Question:

Hi, I live with people affected by what I think is a real sickness: the obsession for cleanliness and hygiene. They are neat freaks!

Where does this mania come from? Why these people have the need of live in excessively clean places? 

I really want to understand it, because their behavior is extremely annoying, for them it is not enough to live with this obsession, but they want to transmit it to others in any way possible! 

What is the mechanism that creates these obsessions? What drives them to give importance to things that are objectively not important? What there is behind all this hygiene need? Thanks for the answer!

Answer:

According to classic psychiatry it is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The affected subject tries to keep anxiety under control by setting in motion rituals that, by being repeated in time, give him the illusion of having everything under control. Obsessive cleanliness and hygiene fulfill the same need.

The one for cleanliness is one of the most common obsessions of OCD subjects, even though it is not the only one. It represents a serious problem of contact and relation with the world and with other human beings, a problem that involves the sphere of affections and sexuality. 

The symptoms increase when the subject’s anxiety increase (the symptoms are the way the subject cope with anxiety.)

The anxiety/fear typically related to the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder makes the subject think to be so fragile that any external agent, which is perceived as dangerous, might damage/kill him. Filth may cause sickness, who is affected by OCD is almost sure that they will get those sicknesses.

The “need to transmit” these obsessions is a secondary fact: if others do not follow the ritual, they might damage its efficacy. The fact that they “give importance to things objectively not important” is irrelevant, since subjectively they are of VITAL importance.

Answer:

Sergio Scialanca, Psychologist

Question:

Mirko, 40 years old

Publication Date: 03/27/2007

Check out the original article here

Is it Depression?

-Ask the Expert-

Question:

Hi, mine is not really a problem, it is more like a worry. I do not understand if what happens me is depression or just part of my personality. At times I have a very enhanced sensitivity to the emotions that life offers me. This causes me to cry, sometimes a lot, but without feeling any pain (physical or emotional.) It happens, for example, when I listen to some songs that I really like, even if they are not related to any past experience. It seems to me like the need to express something too beautiful to be kept inside me.

Other times, instead, I feel the need to go vent praying, or better, talking to friends and family members that are no longer with us. I do not really suffer from the void they left in my life, but I get sad thinking about the pain of the people that they left, and about the years of this wonderful life that they could not experience by dying young.  I am one of the most optimistic people I know, in my life I had plenty of freedom to make my own choices, I am mechanic and I love my job.

Of course I too had to face some personal problems, especially health-related, that are now pretty much solved. I do not think that my behavior is something negative (or at least I hope!) also because I noticed something similar in my mom and my grandfather, they cry at family-birthdays or in other joyful occasions. Sometimes I cry just by watching the news, if it happens something very unfair or tragically unlucky.

What do you think? Can it worsen and become depressions or it is all under control? Thanks!

Answer:

Fabio, you surely are a very sensitive person, and so easily touchable by emotions. This is not a problem itself; on the contrary it is a great tool to fully understand people and relations. Although carefully reading your question, I noticed here and there some sadness related to the loss of important persons of your life. I do not have enough information on your life or on the events that characterized it, but maybe your cries are somehow related to a feeling of emptiness. A beautiful song or a birthday can make you cry because someone that you love(d) is not present. This can be perceived as a tremendous unfairness. And similar emotions can sometimes be felt listening to the news.

Dear Fabio, your optimism is itself one of the best cures out there for these kinds of situations. I understand that you fear falling into a depression, but I think that the whole matter has to be read based on the present rather than on the hypothetical future. You are happy with your life, you solved your health issues, you like your job. Maybe you feel the need to share this joy with someone that is no longer here, or that you miss. If this is the case you might want to try to establish some new relation, and if you still feel this emptiness, do not hesitate to ask for help. Not because affected by who-knows-what sickness, but just to be helped to better handle these emotional outbreaks.

Answer:

Antonino Gallo, Psychotherapist

Question: Fabio, 29 years old

Publication date: 02/28/2007

Interested in the topic? Check out the article Is depression a sickness?

Check out the original article here

Why war?

-Library-

“If you have to go to war, you go with the sack and with the stick, the sack to get hit and the stick to hit.” These words, said by my lawyer while discussing a tough professional situation, made me think. It is true that is better to avoid war, but if in the end it becomes inevitable, then determination, courage and knowledge that you may get some bruises, become necessary.

So I had some fun thinking about how individual and group’s emotions can influence the trend of conflicts, conflicts that involve opposed groups composed inevitably by subjects that have very different roles.

First of all, war has to be “ethic”. It seems impossible to start a conflict if there is not some value to defend. It is a lie. Values “cover” interests, that are usually about power. But nobody can control groups of “soldiers” if he does not give them a noble goal.

My second thought is about contexts. War requires a “theatre”. War requires “rules”. We go to war talking about “rules of engagement”, “intelligent bombs”, “proportionate reactions.” Basically trying to be self-reassured that war will not degenerate. This is a naïve illusion, because war will always degenerate.

Third thing, war is about affections. Who goes to war has the need to don’t feel alone. He has the need to feel loved. The loved ones, the ones that you want to defend, the ones that give you energy, tell you that you are a hero. It is not true. On the other side you can find plenty of other “heroes.”

My fourth though is about fear. War is scary. War is the unknown. War is transformation, is trauma. War is hardness that becomes cruelty. Given this, the natural propensity should be to avoid it. But once again, this is not true. Because war is also adrenaline, promises, bets. If I win… If we win…

War’s literature is enormous. Philosophers, Anthropologists, Psychologists, Politicians… at the end there is always the same conclusion: at this stage of the evolution of our societies wars are unavoidable, they are part of human nature.

What a pity! Humans have not been able to work out different strategies to solve extreme conflicts. Although… maybe thinking about it, studying it, imagining better ways… Who knows!

Author: Rolando Ciofi, Psychologist

Check out the original article here