The Greediness of OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is, in part, characterized by greed.
The individual in its grasp often seeks out a high degree of certainty, almost superhuman. Because we aren't intuitively good statisticians, we tend to assign probabilities based on our options. When I, for example, get my yearly physical, naturally I think, I will either be diagnosed with cancer or I won't be—the odds of having cancer are 50-50. Yet, based on my medical history, latest health results, and family medical history, the true odds are much more favorable. However, when engaged in black-and-white thinking (which we do naturally), we tend to think that a result is either certain or uncertain and if uncertain, therefore likely, again based on the amount of options.
Thus, when those are our probabilities, OCD creates compulsions, sometimes mental and sometimes physical, to help foster certainty. Individuals with OCD often complain that they know something but don't feel it. This means they don't fully believe it. They often use therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy in particular, as a means of reassurance, attempting to master their minds before they allow themselves to make meaningful choices.
Yet, when........
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