Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an illness that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions). Although we all have habits and routines that help us organize our daily lives, people with OCD develop patterns of behavior that take up too much time and interfere with their daily lives. Obsessions are unwanted and intrusive ideas, images and impulses that run through the person's mind over and over again. Sometimes these thoughts come …showed first 75 words of 447 total…

…showed last 75 words of 447 total…rituals that usually help control the anxiety. Over time and with practice, OCD symptoms gradually go away. The person with OCD must really want to use this method, though, to be able to tolerate the high levels of anxiety that result. Finally, family therapy is a way to educate the relatives of a person with OCD about their part in the recovery process, and how to deal with their own feelings of frustration and unhap