Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Abstract

The symptoms of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder are char­acteristics that are common in our culture. They are behaviors that are highly valued in our society when in a less extreme form. For example, perseverance and attention to detail are valued and functional; however, when carried to an extreme, the resulting perseveration and inability to grasp “the big picture” are not. Children are taught to value rumination when adults send them to their room to think about the “error of their ways,” but the obsessive-compulsive tends to ruminate constantly. Such homilies as “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well” and “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” teach an approach to life that the obsessive-compulsive carries to a pathological extreme.