Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, can feel overwhelming, but it’s more common than you might think. Affecting millions of people in the U.S. alone, OCD is an anxiety disorder where intrusive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) lead to repetitive actions (compulsions) to reduce the anxiety those thoughts create.

Whether it's checking if the stove is off for the tenth time or avoiding public places out of fear of contamination, OCD can take up a lot of time and energy, making daily life feel like a challenge. Understanding the common obsessions and compulsions people experience is the first step to recognizing how OCD might be affecting you or someone you love.

Common OCD Obsessions

OCD is often characterized by various types of recurring and intrusive obsessions that trigger significant distress, spanning multiple themes, including:

• Over-responsibility for Harm: Worries about being responsible for something terrible happening because of not being careful enough. For example, the fear that by not checking the stove they will be responsible for causing a fire.

• Contamination: Fear of encountering perceived contaminated substances/things, such as bodily fluids, chemicals, germs/diseases, or environmental contaminants.

• Religious (aka scrupulosity): Concern with offending God or blasphemy.
• Violent: Fear of acting on an unwanted thought or image.
• Sexual: Fear of acting on an unwanted/forbidden thought or image.

• Perfectionism: Excessive concerns with:

1. Needing to know or remember everything

2. Worries about performing tasks perfectly or correctly

3. Fear of making a mistake

4. Concerns about evenness and exactness

• Existential: Excessive preoccupation with existential and philosophical themes, such as death, the universe, or fear of being in a simulation.

• Concerns about identity
• Relationships
• False memories
• Emotional contamination

Common OCD Compulsions

• Checking: Includes physical checking (door, stove, iron), online research (physical symptoms, the best item, likelihood of event happening, statistics, etc.), and/or scanning the body.
• Cleaning: Excessive hand washing or bathing or showering routines or use of chemical cleaning products/decontamination.

• Repeating: Doing activities in multiples (specific safe numbers or until it feels right), body movements (touching tapping, making things even), and specific, time-consuming routines.

• Mental rituals: Using a good thought to neutralize a bad one, praying or using mantras to prevent harm or ensure specific outcomes, and mentally reviewing to make sure who said/did the right thing or didn’t harm anyone.
• Reassurance seeking: Telling, asking, or confessing thoughts/behaviors to feel safe.
• Avoidance: Avoiding cues that could trigger obsessions (hospitals, scary movies, driving, etc.)

Treatment for OCD

The most effective treatments for OCD are a combination of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and medication management. A type of CBT called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) helps individuals with OCD learn how to face their fears and cope with distress. The exposure component of ERP refers to engaging with the thoughts, images, and situations that provoke obsessions; the response prevention piece refers to refraining from engaging in compulsive behaviors in response to distress. Over time, ERP helps to retrain the brain, so it no longer misinterprets thoughts, situations, or sensations as threatening.

Finding Treatment for OCD

When it comes to finding help for OCD, it's essential to explore treatment programs that specialize in this condition.

Here are some programs that provide various levels of support, tailored to meet individual needs.

• Butler Hospital OCD & Anxiety Intensive Outpatient Program: https://www.butler.org/services/outpatient/intensive-anxiety-ocd-disorders

• Butler Hospital Psychiatric Neurosurgery Program:
  https://www.butler.org/psychiatric-neurosurgery-program

• Women & Infants Perinatal OCD Intensive Outpatient Program: https://www.womenandinfants.org/services/perinatal-ocd

Research:

• Butler Hospital Project PROVOC: https://www.butler.org/studies/project-provoc

Disclaimer: The content in this blog is for informational and educational purposes only and should not serve as medical advice, consultation, or diagnosis. If you have a medical concern, please consult your healthcare provider, or seek immediate medical treatment.