Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Every morning Sarah takes a long shower and gets dressed for school just like other teenagers. However, before she can eat breakfast she must wash her hands and arms for an hour, making sure that they feel clean. Sometimes she scrubs so hard that her hands become raw and sore. After breakfast she once again washes her hands and then cleans her bedroom until it is spotless. Once Sarah gets to school, she …showed first 75 words of 1022 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1022 total…symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Studies have shown that more than three-quarters of patients are helped by medications at least a little, and more than half of the patients reported that the drugs helped diminish their symptoms almost completely. Medications are helpful in controlling symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but if use of the medication is discontinued a relapse will often follow. Many obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferers must continue to take medication to keep their symptoms from returning.