Need for Control in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

In Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), there are opinions that many common symptoms contain control needs. Individuals diagnosed with OCD are in a tendency to control themselves, the others and the world. While psychoanalytic approach is explaning the need for control in OCD, the approach focuses on anal period, hard toilet-training and regression to anal period. Object relations approach focuses on child’s relationship with care giver and internalization of the representation of the criticizing mother. On the other hand, cognitive approach focuses on disfunctional beliefs much more than parents attitude. The main point that three approaches agree is the idea that individuals diagnosed with OCD have needs for control in their lives. In this review, how the psychological theories explain OCD and the control in OCD have been explained in detail and comparison of the theories has been made.