http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCD
Try going to the residency forum for psych docs and see if you get a better response there.
From what I know about it, it is a mental disorder where someone has compulsive thoughts or needs. Such as washing their hands several times ect. and if they don't they think something bad will happen.
There are several ways that people can be treated for this. A physician would be better at suggesting a treatment method and medical advice I don't believe is suppose to be givein on this forum.
I have heard however that some people who have this type of disorder can actually be good employees ect. They have a tendency to obsess over things, checking things several times ect. So, in other words they can be perfectionists.
One treatment method I have heard that works well is that if someone has a fear of germs for instance and has a tendency to wash their hands several times, to instead only wash their hands once, and resist the impulse to wash repeatedly. After said person only washes his/her hands once and realizes nothing bad happens, they begin to get over their obsession.
Howie Mendell who hosts 'who wants to be a millionaire' or whatever that show is has major OCD. He can't even shake someone's hands w/out gloves on. Instead offering them the 'jive bump'.
Now, if he was forced to shake someones hand several times, and began to realize nothing bad would happen, he would eventually get over his obsession, in theory. But it takes self-discipline.
However, he is still successful as a person even with the OCD.
I worked in a suicide watch for several years. I never saw one person out of the hundreds that I saw, that was locked up just for having OCD. The person with OCD is the one whose paper is neatly stacked on their desk and everything is color coded ect.
I have seen some that have OCD tendencies in conjucntion with a more debilitating disease such as schizoprenia or chronic bi-polar disease (these are worst cases scenarios however) as most people who have OCD can manage it (Howie Mandell)
And it can be treated fairly easily through either cognitive therapy, medication or both.
Lastly remember, everyone has some sort of mental or social abnormality. Your friend isn't crazy but he needs to learn how to get ahold of his disorder before it gets ahold of him.
This conludes my novel. Hope it helps.
