Media Advisory | Feb. 12, 2003
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Backgrounder
- OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent
obsessions and/or compulsions that are experienced for more
than an hour a day and cause marked distress or significant
impairment.
- Obsessions are persistent ideas, images, thoughts or urges
that are unwanted and intrusive and cause anxiety. Examples
include stabbing a child or pushing an elderly person in
front of a bus.
- Compulsions are behaviours or mental acts that are repetitive
and excessive yet reduce some of the anxiety caused by obsession.
Examples include excessive hand washing, checking or mental
repetition of numbers in a certain order.
- Individuals with OCD with primary obsessions are known
to be extremely conscientious and there are no documented
cases of any OCD sufferer acting on unwanted and repugnant
thoughts or images.
- OCD typically develops between 19 and 26 years of age
and OCD sufferers have a higher than average IQ.
- People with OCD are less likely to marry; 58 per cent
cut short academic goals and 40 per cent are unable to sustain
long-term employment.
- Economic impact of OCD in the U.S. estimated at $2.2 billion
for annual direct costs of inappropriate outpatient treatment,
$5 billion for total lifetime hospitalizations and $40 billion
for lost wages over the life span. There have been no investigations
of the economic impact of anxiety disorders in Canada.
-30-
|
 |
|
|
Contact
Maureen Whittal
Anxiety Disorders Unit
Tel: 604.822.1789
Hilary Thomson
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2644
E-mail: hilary.thomson@ubc.ca
|
