Counseling & Psychological Therapy via Telephone & Internet
Dr. Virginia Rockhill
Licensed Psychologist

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "OCD":

Obsessive Compulsive (OCD) Disorder is a condition in which a person has persistent thoughts, images or impulses which are intrusive and inappropriate. This is not the result of intense worrying about a person’s day to day living situation. Most of the time, my patients readily acknowledge that the obsessions are irrational and useless. They can be relieved only when a person engages in a compulsive behavior to relieve the anxiety the obsessive thoughts create. The classic example is when a person obsesses about germs and can only reduce the attending fear and anxiety by compulsively washing his or her hands over and over beyond the point of normal hygiene.

| Anxiety | Panic |

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "PTSD":

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a normal human response which is the result of a distressing experience a person had which involved the potential threat of death or to the physical or emotional integrity of that person or other people. Symptoms of fearfulness, helplessness, flashbacks (re-experiencing the trauma over and over), emotional numbness or detachment, sleep disorders, depression, hypervigilance, startle response, environmental stimuli which trigger feelings of fearfulness or panic, and irritability are some of the symptoms of PTSD. People I know who have experienced combat, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents, work-related accidents, harassment or trauma, and medical trauma frequently seek help to overcome these symptoms of anxiety. PTSD is treatable. It is a delayed stress reaction in which a person has difficulty keeping the feelings associated with the traumatic event from the past out of his or her present feelings.

| Anxiety | Fear |

Copyright © 2010 - Virginia A. Rockhill, Ph.D.