Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, which is believed to be genetic in origin.

It's a great accolade to compulsives' character, that most people with OCD function not only normally, but exceptionally, albeit with acute internalized anxiety.

OCD varies acutely from one person to another, although it is usually characterized by an inability to control an impulse of one kind or another and therefore excessive repetitions of a particular behaviour.

People don't realize how frequently this disorder occurs. It is estimated that around 5% of the population may be affected with OCD.

Unaware of the above, people with OCD tend to be very ashamed of having this disorder and instead of recognising it as a genetic illness, every bit as acceptable as diabetes, for instance, view their OCD as a personality defect to be hidden from public view at all costs. We believe this to be due to a deficit of serotonin (the happy hormone) and a surplus of norepinephrine (shame hormone).

The result, unfortunately, is that many people with OCD are afraid to go to their doctors, do not seek or insist upon help appropriate to their disorder and try to go about their lives without letting on to anyone other than close family (and in some cases no one at all) that they have this disorder.