Once she started talking, she couldn't stop. Twenty-six-year-old Wang Rong would chatter incessantly for at least four hours daily until exhaustion silenced her. Recently diagnosed with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, she underwent surgery at the Guangzhou Military Region Wuhan General Hospital to successfully correct the "short-circuited" neural pathways in her brain.
Wang Rong's condition began 13 years ago during junior high school. She vividly recalls the day she repeatedly answered a single question in class until her teacher impatiently cut her off. Gradually, she lost control over her speech: once she started talking, she couldn't stop, and no one could interrupt her.
Doctors diagnosed her with "obsessive-compulsive disorder," but years of medication brought no significant improvement. Fearful of being labeled "crazy," she avoided seeking work after high school graduation. Unable to tolerate her incessant chatter, friends distanced themselves, and even her parents shunned her.
Recently, Wang Rong sought help from Dr. Du Hao at the Epilepsy and Functional Neurosurgery Center of the Guangzhou Military Region Wuhan General Hospital. "Where does it hurt?" Du Hao asked. To his surprise, Wang Rong chattered on for half an hour without stopping. During that time, Du Hao tried to interrupt her over ten times, but failed each time.
"We used to think OCD was just a psychological issue, but now, with advanced diagnostic tools, we've discovered that the brains of OCD patients are indeed different from those of ordinary people," explained Dr. Du. He noted that OCD primarily involves abnormal connections between parts of the brain. By surgically blocking and reorganizing the "disordered" nerve fibers, the brain can be restored to normal function.Post-surgery, Wang Rong's "chatter disorder" vanished completely; she now responds appropriately to questions.
Du Hao cautions that not all OCD cases require surgery. Surgical intervention may be considered when medication proves ineffective, symptoms progressively worsen, or daily life and social functioning are severely impaired. "Surgery causes irreversible nerve damage and demands exceptional surgical expertise. It must be approached with extreme caution."
3 Questions to Test for OCD
Question 1: "Do you experience recurring thoughts that cause anxiety but cannot be dismissed no matter how hard you try?"
Question 2: "Do you excessively clean objects or wash your hands frequently?"
Question 3: "Do you excessively check things?"
If you answer yes to any one of these questions, you may have OCD and should consult a mental health professional promptly.
14 Symptoms to Test for Hidden OCD
The most common symptom of OCD is excessive worry and fear of making mistakes, leading to constant checking of completed tasks. However, this behavior of checking to avoid errors is also present in many healthy individuals, albeit to varying degrees.So how can you determine if you have OCD? Take this test to assess whether you have hidden OCD.
1. Repeatedly pondering questions with no practical significance. For example: Why are human ears located on the sides of the head?
2. Frequently forcing yourself to calculate meaningless numbers, such as counting steps while walking.
3. Constantly forcing yourself to recall certain past events.
4. Persistently worrying about losing control and committing illegal acts in certain situations.
5. Repeatedly washing hands or changing clothes without understanding why or being able to control it.
6. Frequently doubting doors or drawers aren't locked and checking them multiple times.
7. Often suspecting addresses are incorrect after mailing letters, regretting not double-checking them.
8. Experiencing internal conflicts between thoughts and actions in certain settings, like feeling an overwhelming urge to jump off a bridge while standing near one.
9. Obsessively tracing the origins of trivial matters or phenomena.
10. Feeling compelled to perform specific rituals or actions to alleviate anxiety, such as lighting incense or chanting prayers.
8. Experiencing internal conflicts in certain situations, such as feeling an overwhelming urge to jump off a bridge while standing nearby.
9. Obsessively seeking explanations for trivial matters or phenomena, only to become increasingly confused.
10. Seeing or hearing something inevitably triggers associations with other events, like witnessing a car accident and immediately thinking of a loved one's potential misfortune.
11. Performing rigid, repetitive ritualistic actions to alleviate compulsive symptoms, such as constantly rubbing hands to overcome the urge to repeatedly wash clothes.
12. Experiencing racing thoughts after getting into bed, making it difficult to fall asleep.
13. Fear that the condition will develop into a mental illness, accompanied by pessimism about the possibility of cure.
14. Deep distress and anxiety stemming from the awareness that one's thoughts or actions are irrational, yet being unable to escape them.