Both the obsessive-compulsive and the addict experience overwhelming tension until they succumb to their compulsive drive. When they finally do, they gain an immense, if momentary, sense of relief. Given this absence of psychic freedom, the addict might as well be an obsessive-compulsive—with one essential difference. Unlike the addict, the person with OCD does not anticipate his compulsive activity with any pleasure. Far from craving it as the addict does, she regards it as unpleasant and distressing.
