This article is reviewed, corrected, and approved by: Julia Weiss CNP| RN | MPH
OCD consists of unwanted feelings and worries as well as strong impulses that lead to duplicative behaviors. Compulsions and addictions impede daily activities and reduce anxiety by causing considerable distress.
OCD is a disability, but is it a serious one? Yes, it is only if you fulfill the requirement of disability criteria.
OCD results in an ongoing cycle of repetitive, compulsive behavior. 50.6% of adults with OCD suffer long-term serious physical or mental impairment.
Neglecting your obsessions will only worsen your symptoms of depression and anxiety. In spite of your best efforts, annoying obsessive thoughts and urges never seem to go away. Treatment is available. If you feel you carry OCD, don’t feel guilty and regretful about it. To lead a better life, you need to receive therapy at the earliest.
Symptoms Of OCD
The OCD cycle is characterized by a pattern of anxiety and stress, as well as obsessions and compulsions (rituals and routines). American Disabilities Act (ADA) briefly states that a disability refers a physical or mental impairment limiting one or more essential life functions..
The symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder usually include both obsessions and compulsions. You can also have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms.
Obsession Symptoms
OCD obsessions cause distress or anxiety by being repetitive, persistent, and unwanted thoughts, urges, or images. When you practice repetitive or compulsive behaviors that are not repetitive behaviors aimed only at rituals, you may try to ignore them. Obsessions tend to interfere with your other activities or thoughts.
- Dirt or contamination fear or fear of touching by others.
- Having difficulty accepting uncertainty and doubting.
- Having a need for order and symmetry
- Suicidal or aggressive thoughts about harming yourself or others
- An Unwanted thought, Such As Aggression Or A Sexual Or Religious One.
Examples Of Obsession Symptoms Include:
- Having a fear of being contaminated by objects touched by others
- You're not sure whether you lock the door or not.
- Not sure if you have turned off the stove or not.
- Repeatedly checking the locked door.
- Stress is caused by objects not being arranged in an orderly manner.
- Thoughts about screaming vulgarities or acting inappropriately in public
- Distasteful sexual images.
- Refraining from shaking hands in situations that may trigger obsessions.
Compulsion symptoms
You feel driven to perform repetitive behaviors if you have OCD. It is intended that you perform these repetitive behaviors or mental acts in order to reduce anxiety linked to your obsessions. Compulsions do not provide pleasure, however, and may only provide temporary relief from anxiety.
Like obsessions, compulsions usually have themes,
Such as:
- Washing and cleaning
- Checking
- Counting
- Orderliness
- Maintaining a strict routine
Examples of compulsion symptoms include:
- Rinsing your hands until they are raw,
- Frequently checking that doors are locked
- Making sure the stove is off repeatedly
- Pattern-based counting
- Repeating a prayer, word, or phrase silently
What Causes OCD To Get Worse?
The cause of obsessive compulsive disorder isn't fully comprehended. The main theories include the following:
Biology
It is possible that OCD is caused by changes in the body's own natural chemistry or the function of the brain.
Genetics
There may be a genetic component to OCD, but no specific genes have been identified.
Factors That Increase The Risk of OCD
There are many critical factors that can lead to or activate OCD:
A Summary of the Family's Past Events and Developments
A family history of OCD increases your chances of acquiring it.
Life Events that Cause Stress
Your risk may increase if you have been abused or stressed. This reaction, for some reason, may trigger OCD symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, unease, and distressing feelings.
Other Types of Mental Disorders
A person with OCD can have anxiety disorders, depression, addiction, or tic problems.
OCD Complications
Difficulties and other mental health conditions and mental illnesses resulting from the obsessive-compulsive disorder may include:
- Ritualistic behavior that involves time-consuming preoccupation.
- Handwashing frequently can lead to health issues, such as contact dermatitis
- Being unable to follow work or social functions
- Problems with relationships
- A low level of quality of life
- Suicidal thinkings
How Is Disability Defined?
Disability, as defined by the ADA, are disabilities that influence significant living activities, whether physical or mental, in character. The act ensures that they have access to equal opportunities.
Is OCD A Disability?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) describes OCD as a severe condition with adverse effects on the brain. The brain is damaged by OCD, so it must be considered a disability.
Employers may require evidence that you have a mental health condition if you work somewhere. This will be used to identify a person's disability.
It is possible for disabled people to request rational accommodations. In order to provide accommodations to people with disabilities, a process of application will be used.
As a result, they will be able to perform their job functions more effectively. The disabled will benefit from all these benefits more than people without disabilities.
EEOC regulations state that employees are only entitled to be accommodated in a reasonable manner. Accommodations will be provided where necessary in the event that the employer is not subjected to undue hardship.
A disability claim must be based on a disability that causes difficulties with daily living. Money management issues, relationship difficulties, or transportation problems.
What Type Of Disability Is OCD?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The hiring process of the job does not discriminate against people with OCD. Discrimination based on disability is not permitted after an OCD sufferer gets a job.
Anxiety disorders cause OCD. Even relationships can be affected by this chronic pain.
Medical records must be presented as evidence to the Social Security Administration. It is important to preserve the documents and to have a disability lawyer and a certified psychiatrist approve them.
Ensure that you keep track of the treatments, medications, and therapies that have been given to you. In your medical records, you will also find details about your response.
As well as stating your inability to work, the healthcare professional must provide you with evidence of this. Moreover, it will mention that you had difficulty completing tasks.
You need to present the SSA with the list of questions you were given for the diagnosis of OCD.
In addition to strengthening your disability claim, this will also demonstrate the extent and extended duration of your disability. You can rely on Disability Lawyers to assist you in winning disability advantages.
OCD Disability Qualification
The Social Security Administration has published a list of conditions in its Blue Book that qualify for disability benefits and OCD disability claim. It also explains what other medical records are required to qualify for a disability benefit in the United States. Medical findings include at least two of the following:
- Severe muscle tension.
- There are difficulties breathing and sweating, as well as rapid heart rate caused by autonomic hyperactivity.
- Putting too much weight on the future.
- Fear of a condition, object, or movement causes an overwhelming desire to avoid it.
- Panic attacks that occur on average once a week as a result of the sudden onset of intense fear, apprehension, or terror
You must also demonstrate that you have two of the problems listed below:
- Social functioning is severely impaired
- Concentration, persistence, and pacing difficulties
- Decompensation episodes occur repeatedly and last a long time.
Disability Benefits for OCD
If you are unable to work full-time due to obsessive-compulsive disorder, you might qualify for social security disability benefits. While you can't find a full-time job, the income you receive from SSA-run assistance programs will keep you afloat. Having OCD and related disorders can make it difficult to work and lead to financial stress. Social Security Disability benefits may ease some of that stress.
Disability insurance provided by the Social Security Administration (SSDI)
A sufficient number of work credits must be accumulated throughout your past work history before you can qualify for SSDI payments. For SSDI coverage, people under the age of 31 have to have worked half their lives since turning 21. Those who are 31 and older must have worked five years in the last ten years.
Social Security Income(SSI)
Those lacking enough SSDI credits may be eligible for SSI or supplemental security income payments. A condition such as OCD, which is approved by the Social Security Administration, does not require you to have work credit to qualify for this need-based program.
Some Interesting OCD Statistics
Let’s glance a look at some of the trendy numbers related to OCD
Conclusion
It is important to distinguish between perfectionists and people who have OCD. A person with an obsession with disordered thinking doesn't just worry excessively about life's problems or organize their items in certain ways.
You must adhere to the consultation tips from specialists if you suffering from compulsive behaviors.
Frequently Asked Question
Question 1: Is OCD a mental illness or disability?
Answer 1- A disability is a condition that alters a person's capacity to do the tasks of everyday life. When OCD is present in day-to-day life, its symptoms can cause a great deal of disruption in a victim's life. There are various mental illnesses that can qualify someone for disability benefits.
Question 2: Do anxiety and OCD qualify for disability?
A guide to qualifying for disability benefits based on OCD.
Your OCD condition may qualify for SSD compensation. Social Security Administration (SSA) defines OCD as a disorder associated with anxiety.
Question 3: Does OCD occur frequently?
It affects 2-3% of Americans, and women are slightly more likely to suffer from OCD than men. It is usually discovered during childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood that someone has OCD.
Question 4: Is OCD a neurological disorder?
Various neurological disorders like encephalitis, head trauma, and abnormal births are associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Question 5: Why do people develop OCD?
You might use obsessions and compulsions to cope with anxiety if you've experienced traumatic events in your childhood or if you've been abused or bullied. Your parents may have taught you OCD behaviors when they experienced similar anxieties and exhibited similar behaviors.