What are the psychological effects of obsessive neurosis?

A good part of the psychological disorders that lead people to seek professional help in psychotherapy have to do with problems of managing emotions. Among these emotional maladjustments, some can be considered neuroses, although this term is very broad and groups together a wide variety of mental phenomena and behavior patterns.

In this article we are going to focus on what is known as obsessive neuroses, to see what are the typical psychological effects of these.

• Related article: "The 16 most common mental disorders"

What does the word neurosis mean?

The word neurosis has been used in the clinical field since the 18th century, when the Scottish physician William Cullen used this word to refer to what certain patients with alterations experienced in their way of moving and experiencing states of mind, which were apparently caused by dysfunctions in the system highly strung.

However, it was at the beginning of the 20th century when this word acquired importance in the world of psychological care for patients, hand in hand with

Sigmund Freud and more or less direct followers of his theories and psychodynamic approach to the human mind, such as Carl Jung. These authors defined neurosis above all as an inability to emotionally adjust to the environment and social contexts of everyday life.

Thus, if psychosis was a psychiatric disorder that involved a cognitive, emotional and perceptual disconnection with reality, neurosis mainly affected emotions and its impact on people's quality of life was not considered so radical, in most cases. Neurosis patients who came to specialist consultations were not unable to fully understand what was happening around them, but their emotional response to day-to-day events caused problems for them and for the people around them: for example, through unjustified outbursts of anger, a very intense fear of abandoning the protection of the family, the tendency to cry a lot for no apparent reason, etc.

Now, although the term neurosis was used as a diagnostic category in the first editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the line of diagnostic manuals most used in the health field mental, nowadays it is no longer used officially, in favor of other more specific terms when describing the symptoms of psychopathologies. But that does not mean that in certain cases it is not useful as a conceptual shortcut to talk about certain cases. in which a relatively frequent typical clinical picture is seen among psychotherapy or care patients psychiatric.

• You may be interested in: "Neurosis (neuroticism): causes, symptoms and characteristics"

Main psychological effects of obsessive neurosis

As we have seen, the concept of neurosis has very diffuse limits and at present it is rather obsolete in favor of other terms that refer to psychological disorders detailed in diagnostic manuals used in psychiatry and clinical psychology today (among other things, because the symptoms of each of them are much more completed).

For example, some of the psychopathologies that overlap with the concept of neurosis are the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, phobias, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and more.

However, it is still possible to refer to the different types of neuroses to describe in a way approximate the psychological alterations that some patients present, and the possible causes that are after them.

Bearing this in mind, what does an obsessional neurosis consist of?

Obsessive neurosis is a form of neurosis characterized by recurring thoughts that "catch" over and over the person's consciousness. The problems it gives rise to may have to do with the fear of something happening (a hypothetical scenario that comes to mind of the person constantly and at inappropriate times, causing great emotional disturbance) and / or with the tendency to constantly fantasize about the same thing, removing the person from their responsibilities and the possibility of having a social life satisfactory.

In any case, in most cases these obsessive thoughts lead to stress or anxiety, either because of the discomfort that these ideas or mental images produce, or because of the psychological tension that they generate when putting the person in a state of "alert" (for example, feeling frustrated that you are not living what you fantasize about and looking for opportunities to move from wishful thinking to reality).

Now that we have seen the general characteristics of obsessive neurosis, let's see in more detail what its psychological effects are on those who develop this disorder.

1. Produces psychological rumination

Rumination is one of the key elements of obsessional neurosis. As its name suggests, this alteration is based on obsessions, recurring thoughts that appear in the person's mind over and over again. This makes the person be attentive to the possible appearance of those ideas or mental images, learning to fear those unpleasant experiences, so that a vicious circle occurs.

• Related article: "Rumination: the annoying vicious circle of thought"

2. A feeling of lack of control over one's actions appears

The person with obsessive neurosis has trouble suppressing the urge to relieve the discomfort generated by the obsessions performing certain actions, which become routines. In this way, their day-to-day life is increasingly limited by the need to perform these rituals more and more frequently.

3. Leads to inappropriate anxiety management strategies

The way in which people with obsessive neurosis try to alleviate their discomfort usually reinforces the problem, by providing momentary relief but, at the same time, predispose to the constant appearance of these recurring thoughts.

For example, biting your nails to “remove” the feeling of having done something wrong causes your nails to are in worse shape and the person has a constant reminder of what has led to bite them.

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4. Limits the person's social life

Another of the psychological effects of obsessive neurosis is that make it more difficult to connect with others to the point of creating strong emotional bonds, because of the tendency to introspection or / and the rituals to alleviate the discomfort of people who present this alteration.

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