What term describes an uncontrollable urge to perform an act repeatedly to reduce anxious thoughts?

What term describes an uncontrollable urge to perform an act repeatedly to reduce anxious thoughts?

• A. Compulsion
• B. Obsession
• C. Delusion
• D. Hallucination

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how obsessive thoughts and the resulting behaviors are related in anxiety-driven conditions. An uncontrollable urge to perform a behavior repeatedly to reduce anxious thoughts is a compulsion. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessions are intrusive, distressing thoughts, while compulsions are the repeated actions or mental rituals aimed at decreasing the anxiety these thoughts cause or preventing something bad from happening. People feel driven to perform the ritual, even if it doesn’t logically connect to the feared outcome. Delusions are fixed false beliefs despite evidence, and hallucinations are sensing things that aren’t actually present. These aren’t about performing repeated acts to lessen anxiety, which is why they don’t fit this description.

The idea being tested is how obsessive thoughts and the resulting behaviors are related in anxiety-driven conditions. An uncontrollable urge to perform a behavior repeatedly to reduce anxious thoughts is a compulsion. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessions are intrusive, distressing thoughts, while compulsions are the repeated actions or mental rituals aimed at decreasing the anxiety these thoughts cause or preventing something bad from happening. People feel driven to perform the ritual, even if it doesn’t logically connect to the feared outcome.

Delusions are fixed false beliefs despite evidence, and hallucinations are sensing things that aren’t actually present. These aren’t about performing repeated acts to lessen anxiety, which is why they don’t fit this description.