Write a 6 pages paper on the threat of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is classified currently on its own, and it features an individual’s preoccupation with obsessive thoughts and the display of compulsive behaviors triggered by anxiety-provoking stimuli. DSM-V outlines the following criteria for the classification of OCD.

Write a 6 pages paper on the threat of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is classified currently on its own, and it features an individual’s preoccupation with obsessive thoughts and the display of compulsive behaviors triggered by anxiety-provoking stimuli. DSM-V outlines the following criteria for the classification of OCD.

During the Dark Ages, when religion predominantly governed all facets of human existence, individuals suffering from obsessive thoughts just like those afflicted with blasphemous or sexual thoughts were believed to be possessed by evil spirits. Consequentially, the prescribed treatment entailed exorcising the evil spirits. Religion offered no factual justification for its diagnosis and treatment of OCD. therefore, the probability of recovery among those afflicted with the disorder was slim to none.

Scientific advancements during the Enlightenment era offered a different perspective on the causes, diagnosis, and possible treatment of OCD. Early physicians attributed the disorder to an imbalance in the body’s senses of humor. According to them, restoring balance to the senses of humor was achievable through bloodletting. These physicians distinguished between different types of compulsions and obsessions. for example, compulsive washing, checking, and sexual obsessions among others.

In the early 1900s, scholars discovered a psychological component to the disorder. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud posited that obsessive-compulsive thoughts were manifestations of unconscious conflicts. Freud hypothesized that external prohibitions toward specific actions such as touching failed to abolish one’s desires to pursue those actions, as they resulted in repression. According to him, repressed feelings and thoughts persisting in an individual’s unconsciousness eventually re-surfaced manifesting themselves through peculiar behaviors.

Building on advancements made by early scholars, contemporary scholars continue to use highly advanced technology.&nbsp.for example, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans to identify abnormalities in the brain structure that might predispose the development of OCD.