[FOUNTAIN]A cure for obsessions

What happens in your brain when you cannot feel at ease unless you take a certain action? Scholars claim that those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder have an abnormally faster metabolism in the brain, which means that energy is consumed at an excessively high rate by the brain. According to the theory, people with obsessive-compulsive disorder have relatively smaller brains than other controlled groups of people.
Dr. Judith Rapoport of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health says that obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by a feeling of relief when ceaselessly repeating a certain action over and over again. The disorder can be categorized into three types: checkers, exacters and washers.
The checkers constantly repeat the same action to confirm something while the exacters spend time keeping things arranged in a certain symmetrical pattern. The washers believe that they have to wash themselves repeatedly and clean things around them. Dr. Rapoport said that obsessive-compulsive disorder distorts one’s perception of reality, and it is almost like magic.
When disturbed by the condition, the brain gets lost and wanders about. Once the brain operates abnormally, it leads to a series of strange behaviors. Brain malfunction can not only harm the individual but also negatively influence those around him and the organization he belongs to.
Lately, government officials have been making a series of comments forecasting a possible burst of the real estate bubble. They are using radical expressions such as “tin-can houses” and “worthless.” However, critics say that the officials have a fixed notion that they have to control the housing price in the Gangnam area.
The problem is that a serious case of obsessive-compulsive disorder requires long-term treatment. There is a risk that a patient might fall into complete despair. They are tremendously frustrated and tormented when they cannot achieve certain tasks that might be easy forother people because of their mental condition. Combined with social criticism and derision, they can even feel psychological devastation. The cure for obsessive-compulsive disorder is to help the patients get over the object of obsession and build understanding, tolerance, compassion and mercy. However, it is not easy to recover a brain reduced by obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a patient might perceive it as a failure or surrender. In order to prevent the brain from consuming too much energy, why don’t we hide the phrase “Gangnam housing price” in the far side of our memory?

by Park Jai-hyun

The writer is a deputy city news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.