What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition in which an individual experiences obsessions, which are unwanted thoughts or sensations taking place in a repeated cycle; and compulsions, which are the intense and sometimes uncontrollable urge to do something over and over again. While OCD may appear in many forms, these forms are divided into four main categories; which are:

• • Contamination

    – Intense, fearful thoughts that something one sees or is near to, is dirty or contaminated. This also includes an intensive feeling of being dirty.

  • Checking

    – Intense urge to check, even after you have checked once or twice. For example, having thoughts such as “Did I lock the door when I was leaving home?” “Did I check enough to ensure that the door was properly locked?” Constantly checking so before leaving, or having repetitive thoughts about the same, leaving the individual uneasy and anxious.

• Ruminations and Intrusive Thoughts

  – Intensive and continuous obsession with a line of thought. Often, the nature of these thoughts may be disturbing or sometimes violent.

• Symmetry and Order

  – The intensive need to have things arranged or lined up in a certain way as you strongly desire.

You may be wondering after reading this, that ‘Hey! don’t we engage in these actions and behaviors at times?’ We do. At the same time, when it comes to people experiencing OCD, their thoughts and actions become an intense part of their lives, taking up at least an hour or more of their day, beyond their control, which is not enjoyable at all and it impacts their daily functioning.

Now that we know this if someone keeps things clean a lot and keeps them neat and tidy, does it mean they are experiencing OCD? Absolutely not. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is much more than cleanliness. It involves a lot more behaviors and actions. Let’s simplify it even further. Obsessions are intensive thoughts about something, and Compulsions are behaviors or actions that are engaged in to try to avoid/reduce thinking about the obsessions. Instead, these compulsions do more harm than good. Cleanliness, to an extreme, might be initiated as an action to avoid an intrusive and constant thought. Yet, it ends up interfering with the individual’s thoughts and disrupting their daily functioning, and relationships because they may end up spending a large part of their day avoiding their obsessive thoughts and acting on their compulsions. 

OCD is not just cleanliness, but also:

• Calling up loved ones repeatedly to check if they are fine or not.
• Extreme worry about self or loved ones’ health, even if they are fine.
• Accumulating a lot of things including junk, and not letting them go at all (i.e., hoarding).
• Engaging in actions or behaviors such as counting, tapping, or repeating certain words or words in a certain way.
• Taking part in rituals in an excessive way or praying excessively, due to fear associated with religion.
• Feeling out of control if things are not arranged or placed in a certain way.
• Intensive fear and belief in superstitions.
• Intensive and uncontrollable sexual or violent thoughts.

It is understandable that it can be tricky to support and be sensitive towards a person experiencing this condition, especially because we have seen how this condition is mocked and anyone who enjoys or is particular about keeping things in place or cleanliness is labeled as someone having OCD. At the same time, being aware that sensitivity and consideration are much needed is the first step for us to not engage in labeling anyone as someone with OCD. So, how do we exactly do that?

• Being aware that OCD is much more than just cleanliness and tidiness. So, think twice (or maybe thrice, no harm!) the next time you jokingly label someone as experiencing this condition.
• If you actually come across someone who is dealing with this condition and are close to them, try to be understanding and supportive.
• Understand and accept that for people experiencing OCD, change (even if it may be positive) can be stressful.
• Allowing and encouraging them to take their time to reduce their obsession and compulsions.
• Recognize and acknowledge their small accomplishments as well. So, even if they reduce from 5 to 3 times of checking their door lock, acknowledge that; rather than expecting them to change overnight.

Most importantly, it is crucial to understand the roots of one’s obsessive thoughts that contribute to compulsive behaviors. Being aware of these roots can help the person experiencing OCD understand and manage their urges better. Therefore, if you or your loved ones are experiencing such repeated, intrusive thoughts and feel the urge to engage in compulsive behaviors, please reach out to our AtEase Experts who can provide you with professional psychological support.