Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is much more common than was once thought. Most people who are diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder will start to have noticeable symptoms before their 30th birthdays.

Symptoms of OCD vary widely but all share a common trait of relating to a mental obsession or a physical compulsion or both.

An obsession is when a person cannot stop thinking about something. Obsessive thoughts feel uncontrollable. The person experiencing them finds them intrusive and distracting, and they can often be quite disturbing in nature.

For example, on common obsession that people with OCD have is fear of contamination. No matter what they look at or think about, contamination comes up as an issue even when they don’t want that to happen.

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A compulsion is a behavior or a ritual that a person feels driven to repeat or to perform under specific circumstances. Compulsions most frequently develop as way to manage obsessions.

For example, the person who is obsessed with fear of contamination may develop a compulsion to constant wash his or her hands to rid them of germs, even when that person’s hands cannot possibly be dirty. Hand washing becomes a way of easing the stress of constant obsessive thinking about germs and dirt.

Most people who suffer with OCD have symptoms that fall into one of four general categories, although the disease is very flexible and there are exceptions.

The major categories of OCD symptoms are:

• Washing. Washers tend to have contamination/germ obsessions. The most common compulsion is excessive hand washing, but other items may be compulsively washed as well, or over-cleaned or disinfected.

• Checking. Checkers usually have obsessions with danger or harm. They may compulsively check to make sure doors are locked, stoves are turned off, tires are inflated, or anything else they associate with protection from harm or danger.

• Counting and arranging. Counters and arrangers have obsessions that are much like very severe superstitions. They may need to repeat certain numbers if they see a specific object, or arrange their silverware in very elaborate ways, or arrange their closets or linens very symmetrically.

• Hoarding. People who can’t throw anything away to the point that they cannot walk through their homes or use entire rooms have a specific form of OCD that is a response to an obsession with not having enough.

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Many people use the term ‘OCD’ to refer to any habit they may have of checking or washing, or any superstition or chronic worry they might struggle with. This is not an accurate way to talk about obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Simply obsessing about something or having a favorite ritual or superstition does not mean you have OCD.

OCD sufferers have symptoms so extreme they interfere with living a normal life. They may wash their hand until they bleed, check and recheck a door lock for hours, or save so many newspapers they have to sleep in the garage.

Common early signs of OCD include:

• Fear of contaminating yourself or others with germs or dirt.
• Fear of harming yourself or harming other people.
• Intrusive sexual or violent thoughts and images that won’t go away.
• Constantly thinking about morals, rules, or religious ideas.
• Superstitions or a need to have everything symmetrical.
• Fear of losing things or of not having things you might need.
• Any rituals or habits you fall into to manage these kinds of fears.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder responds well to treatment with drugs and psychotherapy and is thought to have a biochemical or even hereditary origin. If you think you may have OCD, getting an early, accurate diagnosis can get you on the road to a successful recovery.

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