Do you experience obsessive thoughts or have compulsive disorders? If the answer's yes, NUI Galway wants you to take part in an online survey.
The School of Psychology at the University is looking for more than 1,000 people to do the survey.
While OCD is a fairly uncommon diagnosis - 2-3% of the population have the condition - around a quarter of all people in community studies report experiencing lower-level obsessions or compulsions at some point in their lives.
Many people struggle with obsessive thoughts that they find difficult to remove from their minds, while others have compulsive behaviours that they feel like repeating over and over again such as checking locks.
People can spend as much as six hours a day experiencing OCD symptoms. It can take different forms including:
- Thoughts about being contaminated or dirty and engaging in excessive washing
- Repetitive checking of locks and switches or certain rituals to prevent bad events
- Unpleasant and unwanted thoughts about engaging in immoral or aggressive acts
- An excessive need for symmetry and order, associated with a ‘not just right’ feeling
Advertisement
Different emotions have been linked to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. People can experience feelings of guilt or disgust. The research will look at the relationships between these emotions and obsessional and compulsive symptoms.
Patrick McHugh, a psychologist in clinical training at the School of Psychology in NUI Galway will carry out the study. Commenting on the research, McHugh said:
Obsessions can feel overwhelming and difficult to control. We aim to investigate whether strong emotions like guilt and disgust contribute to such symptoms.
