Psychology Roots
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Obsession
An obsession is the inability of a person to stop thinking about a particular topic or feeling a certain emotion without a high amount of anxiety. When obsessed, an individual continues the obsession in order to avoid the consequent anxiety. In the case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the individual may have only the obsessions, compulsions or both. An example of an obsession in OCD is a person who can’t stop thinking about dirt or germs that they could come into contact with. In this case, thinking about dirt and/or germs is an obsession.
