An individual with a psychotic disorder may ruminate on a single idea, but would not try to avoid thinking about it, as obsessive ideas do not generate the same kind of personal distress when they occur as part of a psychotic process. This disorder results in significant distress. Most people with OCD spend a lot of time during the day dealing with either obsessions, compulsions, or both. These obsessions and compulsions significantly interfere with their normal life functioning. OCD can develop in childhood, but most often it develops in adolescence or young adults.
Intrusive thoughts are very common in the general population.
Most of the time, stress leads to intrusive thoughts, and individuals who are depressed are also more likely to develop intrusive thoughts. It appears that those people who develop an OCD response to these intrusive thoughts may have a severe biologically based emotional response to stress. It should be noted that OCD is very resistant to treatment, and an individual with OCD will need treatment over an extended period of time. Top of Page and Navigation Bar Psychology Information Online , developed by Donald J. Franklin, Ph.D. , provides information about the practice of psychology, features Continuing Education Programs and a Psychology Bookstore , and hosts the National Directory of Psychologists .