The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of automatic movements and rituals. Patients have to repeat sequences of events, typically washing their hands several times (they never feel they are cleaned enough), or closing the doors several times (they never feel they are properly close). They feel compelled to do these and many other things in a repetitive, ritualistic way. Unlike other mental disorders where there is little or no insight, in OCD, patients typically think that the repetitions or rituals are futile and that they have a problem. They are conscious of the disorder.
The OCD enterprise has lots of rituals. People create PowerPoints in a repetitive way. They prepare stacks of them and present to people, who need them to present to other people, who present to other people. A ritualistic, usually upwards activity. They can’t stop it. It happens at least once a month, and blocks them for days. They acknowledge that there is something wrong with this, but they keep doing it.
In patients, OCD is co-morbid (a fancy medical term to say that an entity tends to appear together with another one, such as obesity and hypertension, for example) with depression. No single OCD patient in the world is happy. Happiness, or even elevated mood, euphoria, elation, etc, does not come with OCD. They are incompatible. Depression is the main association.
The OCD enterprise is (a bit) depressed. For some, also depressing. A bit contagious. There are some managers with a estrange ability to enjoy it, because the ritual in itself is a mechanism of power, of command and control. But other than that, there is no much elation around.
OCD in patients is a serious condition. Although traditionally classified as not as severe as the ‘big mental disorders’, such as schizophrenia, for the very reason that patients don’t loose a sense of reality ( as said, they know the situation is a problem), it is in fact very often more debilitating than the ‘big ones’. Normal life is very difficult.
The OCD enterprise is seriously damaged. Most of the air time is consumed in internal, inwards looking, repetitive and ritualistic activities. It is debilitating and inefficient.
OCD patients need treatment, usually a combination of drugs and cognitive behaviour therapy.
The OCD enterprise needs treatment. Mmm….