Personality Disorders Plymouth

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

 

What is obsessive compulsive personality disorder?

 

Messiness makes a person with OCPD very anxious and they tend to try to control everything and put things in order. They are often perfectionists, but because of their high standards they can have a hard time completing tasks and spend a lot of time on them even after they stop being effective.

It is diagnosed twice as much in males than females, and is present in between 2.1% and 7.9% of the general population.

 

Difference between OCPD and OCD

 

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is not the same as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD are aware that their behaviour is different to others and are anxious about that, but people with OCPD think that their behaviour is acceptable and don’t see a problem with how it affects their lives.

OCD causes the person to perform compulsive ritualistic or repeated behaviours because of obsessive thoughts or images that enter the mind which are distressing. The behaviour is carried out to try and rid themselves of the obsessive thoughts and is often to prevent an unlikely harmful event from occurring.

This is not the case with OCPD. With OCPD the behaviour is performed to achieve perfection and orderliness rather than switching the light on and off 4 times because if they don’t something bad will happen for example.

 

Symptoms of OCPD

 

• making long lists and writing up rules and timetables

• hoarding things which don’t have any value or emotional value

• being a workaholic, so much so that they can’t give tasks to others because they want to complete them themselves

• saving money because they don’t want to spend it in case there is a reason in the future

• have strong moral values and ethics

• can also have difficulty with other’s emotions or ideas

• or can have problems maintaining relationships because work is priority or because they can be too stubborn to compromise in relationship situations.

 

Causes

 

The cause of OCPD is not known.

• It is thought that a combination of biological, genetic, environmental, social and psychological factors can make people more likely to develop OCPD.

• Early childhood experiences have a big impact on later life and development. Abuse, neglect or emotional coldness from parents to their children in early childhood can make people more vulnerable to develop OCPD.

• Some people with OCPD remember their parents being overly strict and punishing them for even minor faults. This leaves them feeling inadequate, so they develop these high standards seen in OCPD later in life.

• Different cultures also expect and enforce different boundaries and rules within their society which can contribute to the development of OCPD.

 

 

 

Outlook

 

Symptoms of OCPD reduce intensity with age. Also as OCPD patients see their behaviours as voluntary, unlike OCD behaviours, they are more able to change those behaviours and understand why they have developed and how they can relax. This can be done through psychotherapy.

 

Treatment

 

Psychotherapy such as psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural have been shown to help reduce the impact of symptoms of OCPD. This is most effective when the patient does not try to control the situation in therapy and trusts the therapist. Learning to enjoy activities that are not work related and to be happy in close relationships will change your quality of life for the better.

 

Access the Treatments page for more information