Can Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) be caused by Trauma?

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder which begins slowly and progresses from various stages. Hence it is harder to say, what has actually caused the illness. A lot of times, the trigger of the disease is some specific accident or trauma related incident. An increased need of becoming responsible like birth of a baby can make you suffer from bouts of OCD.

The OCD is generally treated on its own and it is never looked upon as an after effect of some other illness or accident or trauma. According to the recent research by scientists, some of the reasons people get OCD finds its roots in Traumatic experiences. It makes sense to target the cure of PTSD as well as OCD together in this situation.

There is a study conducted by researchers on about 1,000 adults who had OCD. This study compared the symptoms of three groups - people who got OCD after trauma, those who developed OCD before PTSD, and those with no trauma history. the segment of adults who had OCD after onset of PTSD are more vulnerable to higher set of symptoms of depressive illness and suicide thoughts. Injuries or accidents also are associated with the onset of OCD.

How are OCD and PTSD effect each other?

Can obsessive compulsive behaviors affect and surround people with PTSD? While childhood trauma is sometimes unavoidable like sudden death of some family member, etc. (the sudden death of a loved one, for example), if we deal with it in incorrect way, it can be the exacerbate symptoms of OCD.

If someone has PTSD and may be went through some of the traumatic events or experiences in he/she is more likely to develop OCD based symptoms. The severity of a OCD symptoms is directly related to number of traumatic events which a person experienced in his/her lifetime.

After a traumatic event, the suffering person starts getting anxious about their own safety and security from diseases, issues, etc.