- Ashtray
- Door locks
- Electrical appliances (irons, etc. )
- Gas/water taps
- Recurring control thoughts or repeatedly occurring control behavior.
- The persons concerned partly realize that their control thoughts or control behavior is inappropriate and excessive.
- The control thoughts and the control behavior represent a substantial impairment in the life of the persons concerned and are experienced as loading.
Approximately 2.5% of the population develop OCD during their lifetime. The compulsion to control is one of the most common obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The time of onset of an OCD is very variable. From pre-school age to middle adulthood, compulsions can recur, with most of the adult patients affected reporting having experienced compulsions as a child or adolescent. Control compulsions are more common in men than in women.
In most cases, the compulsion to control occurs in men between the ages of 18 and 19 and develops only very slowly. In most cases, a standardized questionnaire is used to determine whether an obsessive-compulsive disorder, in this case a control compulsion, is present. The LOI (Leyton Obsessional Inventory) of COOPER is one of several suitable questionnaires.
With the help of the questions it contains, different forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder can be tested, including control compulsion. The advantage of the questionnaire is a precise classification of the severity of the OCD. In addition to the questionnaires, behavioral tests are very often used in the therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorders.
In the case of a control compulsion, a series of situations would be compiled in which the person concerned normally experiences control thoughts or control behavior. The different situations should then be carried out by the person concerned. During this process, information is collected on, among other things, the subjective assessment of the situation and the vegetative symptoms of the person concerned.
If the compulsion to control, if necessary, is not treated, a chronic course may occur. Within such a course, phases with only very mild compulsive symptoms often alternate with phases with highly pronounced and stressful compulsive characteristics. In the case of a chronic course, it is very unlikely that the compulsion to control will disappear completely without medical treatment.
As with other forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, such as the washing compulsion, the consequences of the compulsion to control can be very severe. Often the symptoms very often restrict the person concerned in his or her working life and social environment. Further consequences of the obsessive-compulsive disorder can be, among others.
- Discomfort
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Fears
- Worries
- A feeling of powerlessness (against the constraints)
Obsessive thoughts can be treated by means of a mental confrontation method. It is the task of the person concerned to deal with the obsessive thoughts as long as possible until the fears associated with them disappear. Another possibility is cognitive restructuring.
The affected person should assess the probability of the situation he/she fears to occur. This way of dealing with the obsessional thoughts should make the person concerned realize that their fears are exaggerated and inappropriate. Coercive behavior can also be treated by means of a confrontation procedure.
The person concerned goes directly into the feared situation and remains there until he or she no longer feels any fear or a feeling of unease. In some cases, obsessive-compulsive disorders, such as the compulsion to control, can be treated with medication, depending on their severity. However, 70% of those affected respond successfully to psychological treatment, as this can have a long-term effect.
