Mariano is a 53-year-old man who comes to your office reporting that he has been feeling very unwell for several years. He relates his discomfort to a behavior that he finds absurd but that he is unable to avoid. This behavior, which she always does when she comes home from work, consists of turning the doorknob of the bathroom on the upper floor of the house before doing anything else, even before greeting her family. Sometimes he has tried to resist doing this but has only succeeded in distressing himself and delaying the behavior for a few minutes. This behavior that Mariano performs in an incoercible and automatic way is what is called:
In this question they ask for the name of the symptom, not the disease, so therefore the correct answer is compulsion. According to the DSM-5, a compulsion is a repetitive behavior (e.g., washing hands, tidying up, checking things) or mental act (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the subject performs in response to an obsession or in accordance with rules that must be rigidly enforced. The goal of the behaviors or mental acts is to prevent or decrease anxiety or discomfort, or to avoid some feared event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not realistically connected with those intended to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsession.
Impulsion.
Compulsion.
According to the DSM-5, a compulsion is a repetitive behavior (e.g., washing hands, tidying up, checking things) or mental act (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the subject performs in response to an obsession or in accordance with rules that must be rigidly enforced.