People with obsessive–compulsive disorder usually know that their compulsions do not make sense, but do them anyways to stop the feelings of panic or anxiety. People with obsessive–compulsive disorder may do their compulsions for hours every day. Their compulsions can also hurt them, such as compulsive hand washing making their hands red and cut.
The cause of obsessive–compulsive disorder is unknown. There is evidence that genes have a strong role in developing the disorder. If the disorder starts in childhood, it is more likely that other family members will have OCD than if the disorder starts in adulthood. It is thought that obsessive–compulsive disorder is the result of things humans did when they were evolving.
There are four DSM diagnostic criteria for obsessive–compulsive disorder:
There is another mental disorder similar to obsessive–compulsive disorder called Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder or OCPD. The difference between the two is that people with obsessive–compulsive disorder know that something is wrong and become stressed because of their obsessive thoughts. People with obsessive–compulsive personality disorder do not know that something is wrong, and they like their obsessions and compulsions.
Behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are used to help people with obsessive–compulsive disorder. The therapy works by making people be in places where they have their obsessive thoughts. They are then made to not do their compulsion. Over time, the person becomes used to the place or things that causes them to have their obsessive thoughts. An example of this is someone who is afraid of dirt having dirt put on their hands without being able to wash it off.
The medicines that are usually used are called "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors", or SSRIs. These medicines work by stopping a chemical in the brain called serotonin from working. This causes the obsessive thoughts to happen less. In adults, SSRIs are used for people with moderate or severe issues. In children, SSRIs are used after or with therapy for people with severe issues.
If SSRIs do not work, it is possible for a doctor to give someone with obsessive–compulsive disorder anti-psychotic medicines. Doctors may use both medication and counseling for those with the disorder, and they find that this approach works best.
Surgery can be used to help people if other treatments do not work. In the United States, surgery is not done unless medicine and therapy have not worked multiple times. In the United Kingdom, surgery cannot be done unless cognitive behavioral therapy has not worked.
Therapy can be used to reduce the compulsions in children and young adults. Family involvement is very important in treating children. Family also can give the child positive reinforcement for not doing their compulsive behaviors.
In Europe from the 14th to 16th centuries, it was thought that people who had obsessive thoughts were possessed. They would treat these people by performing sometimes dangerous exorcisms to remove the Devil or evil spirit from the person. In the 1910s, a doctor named Sigmund Freud said that obsessive–compulsive disorder was because of fighting in someone's head. He said that these fights start in childhood when someone gains a "touching phobia", which fights with the natural want to touch things.
There are several movies and television shows that show people with obsessive–compulsive disorder. The movie "The Aviator" shows the life of Howard Hughes. Hughes was afraid of germs, and his obsessions and compulsions were about keeping germs away. English footballer David Beckham has talked about his obsessive–compulsive disorder. Television hosts Howie Mandel and Marc Summers have also talked about their obsessions and compulsions.
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution is the name historians have given to the period in history when there was a large and rapid change in the way things were made. This meant that instead of things being hand made in small workshops, they were made more cheaply in large quantities by machines in factories. Products being made in large quantity now meant that they were sold for less. It is usually thought of as starting in the 1760s.
Many people began to move from an agricultural based life in the country to the towns where the factories offered more and better paid work. A Second Industrial Revolution began in the 1870s.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 18th century. Many of the technological innovations were of British origin. In particular, the County of Shropshire was important, for it had both minerals (e.g. iron ore and coal) and transport on the River Severn. This led to the group of industries near the Ironbridge Gorge and the town of Coalbrookdale.
In the mid-18th century Britain was the world's leading trading nation. It controlled a global trading empire with colonies in North America and Africa, and with some political influence on the Indian subcontinent, through the activities of the East India Company. The development of trade and the rise of business were major causes of the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history. Almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Average income increased, and population grew rapidly. Some economists say that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history, but others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The revolution spread to Europe and the Americas, especially the United States, by the early 19th century. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and came to America. He reconstructed a spinning machine from memory and built a factory of his own.
New ideas and inventions were also taken up and used in mining, the working of metals, and in the transport of goods. Around the same time new ideas in farming were leaving some farm workers without jobs. They added to the move to the industrial towns where they sought out work in factories.
The most important new invention of the industrial revolution was the steam engine. The steam engine, improved by James Watt around 1776, was used to power the factories and pump out the deeper mines. It was also used in railway engines. The heat from burning coal became the main source of power.
Living standards rose and people generally became richer and healthier and had more children who survived to be adults instead of starving. The resulting population growth in England caused new problems. Where only a few people had been rich because they owned land, now more became very rich thanks to industry. More, however, were still poor and lived in poor conditions. Children and women had to work for a long time for little pay. Often several families crowded into very small apartments. Working at different times, family members would take turns sleeping when they were not working. Families were usually unable to get together. 12, 14, or even 18-hour workdays were common. The Industrial Revolution brought problems of its own.
During the industrial revolution, new technology brought many changes. For example:
Botswana
Botswana (officially called the Republic of Botswana) is a country in southern Africa. The capital of Botswana is Gaborone.
The first people in Botswana's territory were the Khoe and San people. Botswana was first formed as the Bechuanaland Protectorate by the British Empire in 1885.
The countries that border Botswana are Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Namibia. It is also possible to travel from Botswana directly into Zambia by crossing the Zambezi River by ferry.
Botswana is landlocked. All of Botswana's trade must be brought in over land or by airplane.