What is obsessive compulsive disorder?
Commonly known as OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder is a mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours.
If you have OCD, you may find it has a big impact on your everyday life and your relationships. You may feel ashamed, lonely or anxious about your OCD.
What are the symptoms?
Obsessive unwelcome thoughts, images, urges, worries or doubts popping up repeatedly in your mind, which may make you feel anxious, disgusted or uneasy
Types of obsessions
- Fear of causing or failing to prevent harm
- Violent intrusive thoughts, images and impulses
- Religious or blasphemous thoughts that are against your religious beliefs
- Intrusive thoughts about your relationship
- Sexually intrusive thoughts or images
- Fear of being contaminated or spreading contamination
- Feelings of dirtiness triggered by your thoughts, images, memories or by a person who has harmed you in some way
- Fears and worries related to order or symmetry
Types of compulsive repetitive behaviour or thoughts that may temporarily relieve obsessive thoughts and feelings
Rituals
- Washing your hands, body or things around you a lot
- Touching things in a particular order or at a certain time
- Arranging objects in a particular way
Checking
- Checking doors and windows to make sure they are locked
- Checking your body or clothes for contamination
- Checking your body to see how it responds to intrusive thoughts
- Checking your memory to make sure an intrusive thought didn’t actually happen
- Checking your route to work to make sure you didn’t cause an accident
Correction thoughts
- Repeating a word, name or phrase in your head or out loud
- Counting to a certain number
- Replacing an intrusive thought with a different image
Reassurance
- Repeatedly asking other people to tell you that everything is okay
How can you manage the symptoms?
Talk to your doctor
If you have OCD, you may feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk to anyone about it. However, it is a health condition like any other and it’s important to get support. You shouldn’t feel any more embarrassed or ashamed about asking for help than if you’d broken your arm or hurt yourself in an accident.
You can speak to your GP about your OCD and they will be able to offer you help. They will ask you questions about your symptoms and may prescribe medication to help you. They may also refer you to a local psychological therapies service, which could help you learn how to manage you condition.
Take steps to get treatment
You can also refer yourself directly to the NHS psychological therapies service without going through your doctor.
The sooner you ask for help, the sooner you can begin your journey to feeling better.
Where can you find help?
You may find this websites helpful in understanding and managing your OCD:
