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y theory on origins of OCD

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y theory on origins of OCD

Postby neocrtx » Tue Apr 12, 2016 5:27 pm

my theory is that OCD is the result of human brain evolution and especially the enlargement of neoortex since most animals have very small neocortex if any and the can only live in here and now. sicne our neocortex grew as we became humans, we got the curse of thinking about past and future(planning neocortex) which then resulted in OCD because of anxiety of what could happen in future or depression from past experiences. most animals are notcapable of thinking about future so they cannot fear future events or think that avoiding certain rituals will lead to bad consequences in future. they can only react to real threats in the present. since humans grew a large neocortex the frequency of paranoid disorders and OCD skyrocketed.

how do you feel about this theory and do you think its plausible?

i think OCD is rooted in future anxiety which is rooted in magical beliefs and imagination(imagining the future is function of neocortex) rather than factual evidence and rational thought.

i think mot human fears stem from the fact that we can imagine the future and so create stress and fear of unreal things which just exist in our fantasy
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Re: y theory on origins of OCD

Postby atina » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:25 am

Dear neocrtx:

I agree and i think your theory is really a scientific fact. After all how can an animal have OCD if it doesn't think... hmm, maybe it has an image-OCD, for example a dog keeps imagining having a second tail and chasing that second tail (could explain why some dogs do chase their tail).

I do think it is a scientific fact that OCD happens only in animals who are able to think using words (what I wrote about animals and image-OCD, now that would be a theory.

And i agree of course that only humans think of the future and the past and therefore, I am re-thinking my animal theory.

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Re: y theory on origins of OCD

Postby Nasty_Boy » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:47 am

There are several brain regions involved in OCD (although, even currently the exact biological mechanism of OCD is unknown) including more primitive centers related to emotion. Scientists were able to stimulate a certain brain region in rats who then displayed OCD behavior (grooming themselves an abnormal amount of times). So animals with certain brain abnormalities could have a form of OCD.

Of course, human OCD is much more elaborate. Including all sorts of rationalizations ( I really can't be gay because....) or worries about the future (if I don't do this something terrible will happen) or past (did I really lock that door?) which is indeed impossible for animals. That doesn't mean some primitive form of OCD doesn't exist in animals.
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Re: y theory on origins of OCD

Postby atina » Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:14 pm

Dear Nasty_Boy:

I didn't realize the grooming behaviors of rats when I wrote my last post here. That is very interesting. I am thinking they may be doing that as a result of fear, that would make sense, maybe being in a cage or too many together.

And then with people, so many connections between thoughts and emotions make it so very complicated.

Thank you for your analysis!

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