'Compulsive' and 'obsessive' have become everyday words. 'I'm compulsive' is how some people describe their need for neatness, punctuality, and shoes lined up in the closets. 'He's so compulsive is shorthand for calling someone uptight, controlling, and not much fun. 'She's obsessed with him' is a way of saying your friend is hopelessly lovesick. That is not how these words are used to describe Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder or OCD, a strange and fascinating sickness of …showed first 75 words of 1948 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1948 total…of everyday life.         Reassurance does not work. The notion that there is a biological basis for a sense of 'knowing' has interesting philosophical implications. We are normally convinced that what we see and feel is truely there. If this is a 'doubting disease,' and if a chemical controls this sense of doubt, then is our usual, normal belief in what our everyday senses and common sense tell us similarly determined by our brain chemistry?