Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, involves having obsessive thinking patterns that can include unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that make a person feel anxious or distressed.
Individuals who have OCD often have significant difficulty pushing away or ignoring these thoughts. Those with OCD also have compulsive behaviors which are an attempt to reverse the obsessive thoughts or urges by performing some sort of action.
Obsessions
Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that cause distressing emotions such as anxiety, fear, or disgust. Many people with OCD recognize that these are a product of their minds and that they are excessive or unreasonable. However, the distress caused by these intrusive thoughts cannot be resolved by logic or reasoning. Most people with OCD try to ease the distress of obsessional thinking or to undo the perceived threats, by using compulsions. They may also try to ignore or suppress the obsessions or distract themselves with other activities.
Examples of common content of obsessional thoughts:
- Fear of contamination by people or the environment
- Disturbing sexual thoughts or images
- Religious, often blasphemous, thoughts or fears
- Fear of perpetrating aggression or being harmed (self or loved ones)
- Extreme worry something is not complete
- Extreme concern with order, symmetry, or precision
- Fear of losing or discarding something important
- Can also be seemingly meaningless thoughts, images, sounds, words, or music
Compulsions
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. Compulsions may be excessive responses that are directly related to an obsession (such as excessive hand washing due to the fear of contamination) or actions that are completely unrelated to the obsession. In the most severe cases, a constant repetition of rituals may fill the day, making a normal routine impossible.
Examples of compulsions:
- Excessive or ritualized hand washing, showering, brushing teeth, or toileting
- Repeated cleaning of household objects
- Ordering or arranging things in a particular way
- Repeatedly checking locks, switches, appliances, doors, etc.
- Constantly seeking approval or reassurance
- Rituals related to numbers, such as counting, repeating, excessively referencing, or avoiding certain numbers
Common signs, according to the Mayo Clinic, of OCD are:
- Intrusive thoughts
- Constant checking
- Constant counting
- The repeated cleaning of one or more items
- Constantly checking the stove or door locks
- Fear of contamination
- Hoarding
- Thoughts that you might be harmed
- Thoughts that you might cause others harm
If one or more of the above symptoms resonates with you, I encourage you to look into OCD therapy today. Research shows that the most effective treatments for OCD are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and/or medication.
As a licensed mental health professional, I have extensive training in helping patients overcome and grow from their OCD. And together, we’ll create a strategy that works explicitly for you. Contact me today for a free consultation.