Abstract
An obsessional illness can, in its intensity and protracted duration, be severely incapacitating for the sufferer and disruptive to family and social life. Its clinical features divide typically into two main categories:
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(a)
Obsessional thoughts.
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(b)
Compulsions.
‘The adoption of ritualistic behaviour limits free choice of action. It reduces the number of experiences to which the individual must respond and therefore reduces the number of potential anxieties he must face; its sameness produces a certain form of security, and it becomes a defensive method of self-control.’ (Topalis and Aguilera, 1978).
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References and Further Reading
References
Kringlen, E. (1965), cited by Beech, H. R., and Vaughan, M. (1978), Behavioural Treatment of Obsessional States, John Wiley, Chichester, West Sussex.
Pollitt, J. D. (1960), cited by Rycroft, C. (1968), Anxiety and Neurosis, Penguin, Harmondsworth, Middlesex.
Topalis, M., and Aguilera, D. (1978), Psychiatric Nursing, 7th edn, C. V. Mosby, St Louis, Missouri.
Further reading
Barker, P., and Wilson, L. (1985), Behavioural therapy nursing new wine in old bottles, Nursing Times, 81, No. 39, 31–34.
Farrington, A. (1983), Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Nursing Mirror, 157, No. 7, vii–viii.
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Copyright information
© 1987 Peggy Martin and the Individual Contributors
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Vermaut, N. (1987). Nursing care of the patient who is obsessional. In: Martin, P. (eds) Psychiatric Nursing. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09408-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09408-0_15
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