Abnormal Psychology

Anxiety Disorders 301

The word “shall” shall be used throughout instead of “will” in the third person sin-

gular and plural, making all sentences in the imperative rather than the indicative.

The infi nitive verb shall not be used to express a major thought, except as an auxil-

iary to a main verb.

No changes or marks shall be made on the original pencil version.

The numbering system set forth in the notes shall not be a criterion for any future

numbering system.

(Bartlett & Steele, 1979, p. 133)

Like the other anxiety disorders we’ve discussed, OCD often involves an unre-

alistic or disproportionate fear—in this case, of adverse consequences if the compul-

sive behavior is not completed. For instance, someone who hoards newspapers may

be afraid that if she did not keep the papers, she would be unable to fi nd an article

that might later be crucial in some unforseen medical or legal matter. Or someone

with an obsession about contamination, like Hughes, fears that if all germs aren’t

washed off, he will die of some disease. Additional facts about OCD are provided in

Table 7.15, and Case 7.6 describes one woman’s experience with OCD.

Table 7.14 • Common Types of Obsessions and Compulsions

Type of Obsession

Examples of obsessions: People with

OCD may be preoccupied with anxiety-

inducing thoughts about... Type of Compulsion

Examples of compulsions: In order to decrease

anxiety associated with an obsession, people

may repeatedly be driven to...

Contamination germs, dirt Washing wash themselves or objects in order to minimize

any imagined contamination

Order objects being disorganized, or a

consuming desire to have objects or

situations conform to a particular order

or alignment

Ordering order objects, such as canned goods in the

cupboard, so that everything in the environment is

“just so” (and often making family members and

friends maintain this order)

Losing control the possibility of behaving impulsively

or aggressively, such as yelling during

a funeral

Counting count in response to an unwanted thought, which

leads to a sense that the unwanted thought is

neutralized (for instance, after each thought of

blurting out an obscenity, methodically counting

to 50)

Doubt whether an action, such as turning off the

stove, was performed

Checking check that they did, in fact, perform a behavior

about which they had doubts (such as repeatedly

checking that the stove is turned off )

Possible need the extremely remote likelihood that

they will need a particular object at some

undetermined point in the future as part

of some unknown need (for instance, that

they might need to look up something in

today’s newspaper in a few years)

Hoarding hoard or collect objects that have no purpose

(such as years’ worth of newspapers) to the point

where the behavior is clearly maladaptive (when

piles of newspapers interfere with walking freely

from room to room)

CASE 7.6 • FROM THE INSIDE: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

For someone with OCD, just getting up in the morning and getting dressed can be fi lled

with trials and tribulations:

Should I get up? It’s 6:15. No, I better wait till 6:16, it’s an even number. OK, 6:16, now I better get

up, before it turns to 6:17, then I’d have to wait till 6:22.

OK, I’ll get up, OK, I’m up, WAIT! I better do that again. One foot back in bed, one foot on

the fl oor, now the other foot in bed and the opposite on the fl oor. OK. Let’s take a shower, WAIT!

That shoe on the fl oor is pointing in the wrong direction, better fi x it. Oops, there’s a piece of

lint there, I better not set the shoe on top of it.... OH, JUST TOUCH THE SHOE TWICE AND GET

OUTTA HERE!

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