OCD

It has become very common to say, “I’m so OCD”, or “my OCD is making me…”. For those who actually experience Obsessive Compulsive Disorder it is very distressing and can become debilitating. It is exhausting and scary to have the intrusive thoughts and to feel no control over the behaviors OCD demands.

obsessions

Obsessions are unwanted intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that are disturbing, scary, alarming, and very persistent. They feel impossible to control and often the person experiencing them knows they are illogical.

The obsessions create intense feelings that are different for each person, and can vary within the same individual. They can include:

  • anxiety, fear, dread

  • disgust

  • uncertainty and doubt

  • the need for things to be “just right”

Common themes can include:

  • contamination

  • sexual

  • violent, harm

  • just right, perfectionism, symmetry

  • death

  • religious/moral/scrupulosity

  • responsibility

  • relationship

Compulsions

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors an individual feels they must do in order to relieve the distress they experience from the obsessions. These behaviors can quickly become ritualistic as they do help in the short-term, and they can consume more and more of a person’s time. Situations that will trigger OCD are often avoided because of the intense distress and the time the compulsions will take, in addition to the fear of being noticed or judged.

Compulsions can include:

  • washing and cleaning

  • arranging

  • mental compulsions - reviewing, checking, praying, counting

  • confessing

  • repeating

  • rereading or rewriting

  • asking questions

  • asking for reassurance

  • making things even - numbers, on the body, organization

  • body movements