Patients can be quite hard to understand, making them difficult to treat. It’s important to look out for certain behaviors, especially obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Remember:

• Obsessions are thoughts that occur over and over again
• Compulsions are acts the person performs as a way to deal with obsessive parts

Obsessive-compulsive behaviors are most often seen in anxiety disorders, called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In OCD, anxiety is the root of the problem. People with OCD develop rituals that need to be completed in a certain way each time.

When caring for people with OCD:

• Work under the premise that anything that increases anxiety will increase the likelihood of needing to participate in rituals.
• Understand that displaying anger or frustration does not help
• Ask the person to tell you how he or she has been taught to handle rituals
• Give the person plenty of time to get ready for procedures and daily activities

Source: Stressed Out About Difficult Patients, HCPro, Inc., 2007.