Even as a nurse, I knew very little about the disorder. I searched for help in books, articles and online. It is characterized by obsessions or compulsion, usually both, that are time consuming or distressing. They interfere with normal routine, relationships with others or daily functioning. Obsessions are persistent impulses, ideas, images or thoughts that intrude into a person's thinking and cause anxiety.
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to relieve or prevent anxiety.
They may also have a goal of preventing or avoiding some dreaded event. My research led me to other weapons I would need for the battle with OCD, such as cognitive- behavior therapy and medication. Prozac makes my obsessions milder helps me resist the compulsions. It did not completely remove the symptoms, but Prozac makes it easier for me to wield the next weapon I needed, cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy involves attempts at changing distorted thinking and beliefs.