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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages in to attempt to get rid of the obsessions and/or decrease his or her distress.

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Most people have obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviors at some point in their lives, but that does not mean that we all have “some OCD.” In order for a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder to be made, this cycle of obsessions and compulsions becomes so extreme that it consumes a lot of time and gets in the way of important activities that the person values.

Symptoms

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Obsessions are persistent thoughts, pictures, urges or doubts that appear in your mind again and again. They interrupt your thoughts against your control and can be really frightening, graphic and disturbing. They may make you feel anxious, disgusted or 'mentally uncomfortable'.

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You might feel you can't share them with others or that there is something wrong with you that you have to hide. You do not choose to have obsessions - but you might feel upset that you are capable of having such thoughts.

Remember: obsessions are not a reflection of your personality. People with OCD are very unlikely to act on their thoughts because they find them so distressing and repugnant. There are no recorded cases of a person with OCD carrying out their obsession.

Obsession

Compulsion

Compulsions can:

  • be physical actions

  • be mental rituals (people who only have mental compulsions sometimes refer to their OCD as Pure O)

  • involve a number (for example, you might feel you have to complete a compulsion a specific number of times without interruption).

"I would seek medical reassurance online and for a day or so I could breathe a sigh of relief... but then the doubt would set in and I started the process again"

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