Meet Rebecca.
Rebecca is somebody who considers
herself to be a bit of a perfectionist.
She considers herself to
be somebody who's detail-oriented,
independent, and who has a strong sense
of morals and ethics. At work.
She's a high achiever and a leader.
But sometimes Rebecca finds
that she gets slowed down by trying to
make things perfect and has trouble
getting things done on time as well.
She often has trouble
giving up responsibilities to
others and feels uncomfortable when
things don't go exactly as she plans.
One day at the recommendation of a coworker,
Rebecca tries seeing a clinical psychologist to
see if there's anything she can do to
help manage these difficulties.
After a consultation her
psychologist concludes that
Rebecca might have obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder.
Now let's explore what that means.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Or OCPD, is a personality disorder where
an individual feels the need to
control all aspects of their environment.
Individuals also experience
a persistent pattern
of extreme protectionism.
There are eight personality traits
that can be used to characterize OCPD.
These include rigidity,
which is the inability to
be changed or adapted.
Miserliness, which is
the excessive desire to save money.
Perfectionism over attention to detail,
hyper morality,
and the inability to assign tasks.
As we can see, Rebecca did
exhibit some of these personality traits,
such as difficulty
assigning responsibilities,
excessive perfectionism, over attention
to detail and not adapting well to change.
OCPD is related to
other medical and psychological conditions.
For example, OCPD
shares some similarities with OCD.
They are both obsessive compulsive disorders.
That being said,
obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and
obsessive-compulsive disorder
are not the same thing.
Before we go on, if you
would like to learn more about OCD,
you can watch the following videos on
the demystify medicine YouTube channel.
To begin, OCD is an axis one disorder.
This means that it is a clinical disorder.
Axis one disorders tend to be episodic for
the treatment timeline and recovery plan.
As the name suggests,
obsessive compulsive disorder is
characterized through obsessions
and compulsions.
Obsessions are intrusive
thoughts and impulses
that are often inappropriate
and can increase anxiety.
Compulsions are ritualistic actions
that individuals suffering from
OCD feel compelled to
perform in order to decrease their anxiety.
These obsessions and compulsions
do tend to be
contamination related or harm related.
This type of disorders
Is considered ego dystonic as
the obsessions and compulsions do
not align with the person's self-image,
and often they want them to go away.
On the other hand,
OCPD is an axis two disorder.
This means that it is a personality disorder
and is made up of personality traits.
It is not about, obsessions or compulsions.
Rather, the traits discussed
prior. OCPD is
not ego dystonic but ego syntonic,
meaning that the individual sees
their behavior as regular or positive.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is
characterized by a preoccupation
with orderliness,
perfectionism, and
mental and interpersonal control.
This obsessive need for
control can cause problems.
Relationships with work and everyday life.
Treatment of obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder
usually involves psychotherapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is
often used to help patients
manage the symptoms.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
focuses on improving
dysfunctional behavior by changing
the way people think.
Cognitive behavioral therapy effectively
treats symptoms because it helps
deal with the underlying causes
of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
This includes techniques to help patients
identify and challenge their thinking styles.
This can help overcome the symptoms of OCPD.
The overall goal
of treatment is to help patients lower
their strict expectations and
focus on the value of close relationships.
The other purpose is also to
help patients gain the tools to help
them relieve some of the symptoms
experienced from OCPD.
It tries to give them
some flexibility in their,
rigid thinking allowing for
better interpersonal relations.
CBT is usually paired with
relaxation techniques to alleviate some of
the stress and anxiety from OCPD.
While there are
no medications specifically designed
to treat this disorder,
antidepressants may be prescribed to help
with associated anxiety and depression.
As a disclaimer, this video is for
educational purposes only and is not
a substitute for professional medical advice,
diagnosis, or treatment.
After participating in
cognitive behavioral therapy,
over time, Rebecca finds
that she's getting better at
completing things on time
and sharing responsibilities with others.
For more information on OCPD,
feel free to check out some
other videos we've highlighted
here or the resources
linked in the description down below.