Causes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

How Random Thoughts Can Lead to Obsessions

How does obsessiveness begin? There appear to be three related paths.

For the first, consider that most people have occasional random and surprising thoughts. For instance, you may look at the cash register at work and think, “I could steal this money.” You may have an urge to shout an obscenity in a quiet place, or hit someone for no good reason. A disturbing image might come into your mind. These random thoughts are normal, and are likely simply a by-product of the complex functioning of our brains.

Most people will simply discard these thoughts, rejecting them as ultimately meaningless. However, a person who tends towards perfectionism, or feelings of guilt, may begin to worry that there is something wrong with them. Worse still, the harder they try not to think these thoughts, the more they seem to come to mind. If we try not to think of something, we invariably end up thinking about it.

In the second path, the obsessive compulsive disorder sufferers come to attach enormous significance to a past event, seeing themselves as a potential cause for disaster. For instance, a child might wish that harm would befall a mean relative. If, by coincidence, that relative is then in a road accident, the child may come to believe that they have terrible power, and live in fear of exercising it.

For the third path, the sufferers have allowed themselves to be terrified by something that may be partly rational. For instance, certain germs are a genuine danger to human beings; a stove left on is a genuine risk to a house. However, our immune systems are quite capable of dealing with threats without hours of hand washing; a single check of the stove before leaving the house (rather than twenty checks) is sufficient for safety.

Researcher Frank Tallis theorizes that what goes wrong is the process of appraisal. We might have a random thought, or a strange coincidence occurs, or we worry about something. We then appraise that thought, coincidence or worry. Is that small event worth worrying about? Is it significant and important? Mostly, we decide that it isn’t significant and forget about it. In the case of an obsessive compulsive disorder sufferer, though, the answer is often, “Yes, it does matter!”

How Obsessions Lead to Compulsions

Humans hate negative emotions. If a sufferer is feeling bad or anxious, bothered by horrible thoughts, germs, fears etc., then it is natural for them to seek relief. This is the source of compulsions. If a sufferer develops a fear of dirty hands, then washing them is an effective way of allying that fear. If a sufferer has pornographic thoughts, then they may think of a religious image, or the face of a loved one to ‘purify’ them.

Unfortunately, purification may not come as easily after several cycles of anxiety and relief. Routines are useful if we want to be thorough, so sufferers of obsessive compulsive disorder will often develop extremely complex routines in an attempt to be as thorough as possible. For instance, many sufferers who have a fear of dirt develop elaborate basin rituals. They might lather up, scrub, rotate the left hand under the tap, rotate the right hand under the tap, lather up, scrub and so on.

Not a Genetic Disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder does not appear to be genetically transmitted from parent to child. As with other anxiety disorders, there is no known gene for obsessive tendencies. A combination of factors (including inherited personality traits) can make an individual susceptible to obsessiveness, but no one genetic ingredient can be said to cause the disorder.

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