About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
A common manifestation of OCD is repeating obsessions, or doing the same thing over and over again. For example, re-reading the same passage in a book again and again.
Repeated stories often represent highly significant memories. The person may repeat themselves because they want to communicate and cannot find anything else to say. The person might have become 'stuck' on a particular word, phrase or action. The person might be bored and under-occupied.
What you're describing is called Palilalia, which is when we repeat our own words to ourselves, usually although not always under our breath. This is usually thought of as a nervous tic. Many kids develop little nervous tics that come and then fade away, like minor stutters or eye twitches.
This repetition or imitation of sounds, phrases, or words is called echolalia. The term comes from the Greek words “echo” and “lalia,” which mean “to repeat speech”.
Repetitive behaviors are among the first signs of autism to emerge in toddlerhood. They are seen in people across the autism spectrum. They tend to be more pronounced in those with lower cognitive ability, however. Repetitive behaviors have been recognized as part of autism since the condition was first described.
Individuals with ADHD may experience speech and language difficulties. These may include echolalia, or the repeating of words or phrases spoken by others. While echolalia is more common in individuals with ASD, it can also occur in those with ADHD.
Use respectful empathic listening to acknowledge them, and then calmly repeat your response with steady eye contact. Do this as often as needed until you get your needs met or your needs change.
Repetition compulsion involves repeating painful situations that occurred in the past. It's a way to ease tension from physical or emotional trauma, but it doesn't always work that way. Repetition compulsion or trauma re-enactment involves unconsciously recreating early trauma.
Repetition may be because of memory loss. The person might not be able to remember what they've done or said, or the answer they received to a question. For example, they may keep checking they have their wallet or handbag with them, or keep checking their fridge to make sure they have enough food.
The word “rumination” describes a process of having certain thoughts on repeat. For some people, ruminating thoughts are a way to control anxiety. It may mean you're replaying life events in an attempt to make sure that next time, you're prepared and won't feel as anxious.
Repetition compulsion, or repetitive compulsion, is sometimes also called trauma reenactment. It involves repeating physically or emotionally painful situations that happened in the past. The reenactment may take the form of recurring dreams and may affect relationships in various ways.
Echopraxia (which might also be called echokinesis or echomotism) is an involuntary imitation or repetition of someone else's actions. While echolalia is the involuntary repetition of language and sounds, echopraxia is the same but with actions.
People are more likely to believe information they have heard multiple times. This happens even when people should know that what they are hearing is wrong! They already have the correct information stored in memory, but repetition makes them think that false information is true.
To reiterate is to do or say something over and over again, to repeat insistently: to reiterate a refusal, a demand.
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession. The behaviors typically prevent or reduce a person's distress related to an obsession temporarily, and they are then more likely to do the same in the future.
One sign of the aging brain, even without dementia, is that people repeat themselves more often, especially when they tell stories. There are reasons for this that are not related to dementia, though of course with dementia, this tendency has a different root and is much more frequent.
Studies have shown that symptoms of bipolar disorder often overlap with those of ADHD, making it hard to diagnose both of these disorders. Bipolar disorder is marked by mood swings between periods of intense emotional highs and lows.
Children with Asperger syndrome can be very intelligent, but often have problems learning to interact with others or understanding people's viewpoints and emotions. Children with Asperger's often repeat themselves.
Hyperlexia is advanced and unexpected reading skills and abilities in children way beyond their chronological age. It is a fairly recently named condition (1967) although earlier descriptions of precocious reading do exist.
Many children on the autism spectrum use echolalia, which means they repeat others' words or sentences. They might repeat the words of familiar people (parents, teachers), or they might repeat sentences from their favourite video. When children repeat words right after they hear them, it's known as immediate echolalia.
Repetition creates long term memory by eliciting or enacting strong chemical interactions at the synapse of your neuron (where neurons connect to other neurons). Repetition creates the strongest learning—and most learning—both implicit (like tying your shoes) and explicit (multiplication tables) relies on repetition.