Ask Me Help Desk - Psychology- OCD

I am doing a research paper on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). My thesis is very general terms is that the public is not educated enough about the anxiety disorder OCD. I believe many people know the symptoms of the disorder... obsessive and compulsive rituals (i.e. excessive hand-washing, perfection, fear of germs) but do not know that these acts are unwanted. I believe many people do not know that OCD is actually like a phobia... only it is fear of one's own thoughts. I think that if the public were more ecucated on this disorder, that people living with OCD will have more support and be more willing to seek treatment.

Having said this, I need to do a survey with 5 likert questions (i.e. 1-strongly disagree,. 5-strongly agree.), and 5 open-ended questions (avoiding yes/no type answers).

Any idea on some questions I might ask on the survey??

Any help would be appreciated... keep in mind, even if you don't agree with my thesis... that is part of research. If the results disprove my thesis, that is OK.

Lauren

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgmoss

I am doing a research paper on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). My thesis is very general terms is that the public is not educated enough about the anxiety disorder OCD. I believe many people know the symptoms of the disorder...obsessive and compulsive rituals (i.e. excessive hand-washing, perfection, fear of germs) but do not know that these acts are unwanted. I believe many people do not know that OCD is actually like a phobia...only it is fear of one's own thoughts. I think that if the public were more ecucated on this disorder, that people living with OCD will have more support and be more willing to seek treatment.

Having said this, I need to do a survey with 5 likert questions (i.e. 1-strongly disagree, ......5-strongly agree.), and 5 open-ended questions (avoiding yes/no type answers).

Any idea on some questions I might ask on the survey?????

Any help would be appreciated...keep in mind, even if you don't agree with my thesis...that is part of research. If the results disprove my thesis, that is OK.

Lauren

All of your questions can be created to prove or disprove your thesis.
I would use your 1-5 questions to get an understanding of the general public's understanding of OCD, then use your open-ended questions to get the thoughts of people. Provoke thought in them on how much this disease effects a huge population of people. You could even bring up specific cases in the open-ended questions. Those questions are going to be the basis of your theories anyway. One could be to describe an OCD. In a 1-5 question, you could present fact and their answer could cause thought for an open-ended question later in the survey.
I know I didn't provide specific questions... but this should provoke thought for you. I would love to read how it all pans out! Good Luck!

For starters, your could ask the people doing the survey if they have ever heard of the mental illness OCD and what do they believe to be some of the symptoms involved with the illness.
By asking this question you can get an idea of how educated/uneducated the general public is on the issue.
Most people don't know the extent of the damage this illness can cause to it's sufferers. I know of a lady who was so convinced that she had worms and some type of "undiscovered" fungus growing inside her body that it almost tore her family apart because of the extreme measures she was taking to rid herself and her home of all these "undiscovered organisms".
It was quite sad... However once the OCD was under control with medication, she was able to realize that she and her family were not infected with these foreign things. If she messes up on her meds, it starts again...

You could also ask people if they think OCD would be treated by medication, and ask if they think OCD could result in hospitalization. I think a lot of people trivialize it into just a behavior and not an illness. We all joke about "neat freaks" being OCD when that is often not the case. There are many types of OCD, and some (like anorexia or BDD) can create problems for people that require a doctor's care.