How to Spot Symptoms of OCD
OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, is a mental health condition often referenced in jest. It is not uncommon to hear people refer to someone as “being OCD” due to the individual’s particular behavioral tendencies. Looking at OCD in this manner minimizes the significant impact living with obsessive-compulsive symptoms can have on one’s overall well-being. To better understand OCD and how it may affect a friend or loved one living with the condition, it helps to understand its symptoms.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a complex mental health condition that affects people of all ages and demographics. When someone has OCD, they experience recurring and unwanted ideas, thoughts, or sensations (obsessions) that drive them to repeat certain behaviors or actions (compulsions). These behaviors are typically unavoidable. Someone with OCD cannot ignore the perceived need to act out particular behaviors. Ignoring will cause severe anxiety and distress. Unfortunately, they often know the behaviors severely impact their daily life and social interactions; however, they cannot control them.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, while not rare, is not one of the more common mental health diagnoses in the United States. Statistics suggest OCD affects between 2% and 3% of Americans. It is generally prevalent in women, and symptoms often present in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. The average of onset for OCD symptoms is approximately 19 years of age.
What are the Types of OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is not a singular diagnosis. Also, there is no one way to divide or categorize OCD into clear subtypes. However, mental health professionals generally agree there are certain common symptoms or clusters that are present in the various types of OCD. The five primary types are order or symmetry, germs or contamination, ruminations, intrusive thoughts, and checking.
Order or symmetry
Order or symmetry or organization is probably the most recognizable, or at least most familiar, type of OCD. With this type of OCD, you are driven (obsessed with) things being symmetrical or in the right place. For example, you may feel that all pictures in your home must be at the same level. Or, that all labels on items on a cupboard must be organized according to type. If you do not perform compulsions to ensure everything is “just right,” you may experience anxiety. Or, you might even worry that the lack of order may cause harm to you or a loved one.
Germs or contamination
Germs or contamination OCD focuses on two concepts. First, is the idea that non-viral illnesses (such as cancers) can be spread through closeness with someone who is ill or a touch from someone with the disease. The second is that everyday things such as words, thoughts, or beliefs can make someone feel unclean or dirty. People with this type of OCD often feel they must clean things (whether their person or items in their surroundings) to avoid being contaminated with or spreading to others.
Intrusive thoughts
Intrusive thoughts often involve distressing thoughts that randomly enter your mind. Sometimes, these thoughts can involve terrible ideas, such as harming a loved one or a stranger. To reduce the presence of these obsessions, you may perform rituals such as repeating a mantra or performing a specific action. It is important to remember that someone with OCD who experiences intrusive thoughts does not generally agree with them, nor do they act on their ideas. In fact, the content of their thoughts is generally the opposite of what they believe, which is what makes them so distressing.
Ruminations
Ruminations are similar to intrusive thoughts. However, there are differences. The ideas that enter one’s mind with rumination-based OCD are not distressing, like intrusive thoughts. Instead, they are often questions about the world and reality around the person. Often, they are questions without proven answers. Someone who experiences ruminations will be “stuck” on a particular thought for a while. They may also ignore other obligations and responsibilities while seeking an answer.
Checking
One of the most familiar types of obsessive-compulsive disorder is Checking. Checking involves being concerned about harm or damage that could result from being careless and forgetting to ensure “something” is done. Common examples include ensuring doors are locked, the stove is off, or the contents of one’s wallet are all accounted for. It is often necessary to check multiple times before one can feel at ease.
How to Spot OCD Symptoms
Regardless of the particular type of obsessive-compulsive disorder one has, the key symptoms of OCD involve obsessions and compulsions. For most, the severity of obsessions and compulsions generally interfere with your day-to-day activities, such as school, work, or family responsibilities. Often, someone with OCD knows something is wrong, but they cannot stop. Without help from a treatment program like ours at Meadowglade, the symptoms of OCD can have harmful psychological and physical consequences.
Again, the two key symptoms to look for if you are concerned a friend or loved one may have obsessive-compulsive disorder are obsessions and compulsions.
What are examples of obsessions?
Obsessions are recurring and persistent images or thoughts that cause distressing emotions. As previously noted, many people living with OCD know their obsessions are excessive, even illogical, or unreasonable. However, the anxiety and worry that obsessions cause cannot be ignored or managed by applying reason or logic. Examples of common obsessions to look for may include:
- Worries about contamination or germ exposure from people or the environment
- Experiencing disturbing images or thoughts
- Extreme preoccupation with precision, order, and symmetry
- Fear of losing or throwing away important objects
What are examples of compulsions?
Compulsions are the repeated acts of behaviors one feels they must perform in response to an obsession. Compulsions are performed to alleviate distress and anxiety caused by obsessions. Depending on the person, compulsions may be activities directly related to the obsession (for example, repeated hand washing due to fear of germs or repeatedly checking the stove burners for fear they have not been turned off). For others, compulsions may be entirely unrelated to obsessive thoughts. For some with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, the need to consistently perform rituals may fill their entire day, making engaging in “normal” daily activities impossible.
Common examples of compulsions may include:
- Excessive ritual behaviors such as showering, handwashing, or brushing teeth
- Repetitive cleaning and sanitizing of household objects
- Ordering objects or items in a specific way
- Repeatedly checking appliances, switches, or door locks
- Repeated counting to a certain (precise) number
Treatment for OCD at Meadowglade
The best way to understand obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and to develop the tools necessary to safely and effectively manage the triggers that may worsen them is to seek help at a treatment center like Meadowglade. People who complete a treatment program consisting of evidence-based therapies and treatment models often experience improved quality of life and improved functioning.
Depending on the severity of your symptoms, completing treatment may improve your ability to function at home, work, and school. It may help you develop and maintain relationships with others that were once strained by OCD behaviors. Treatment for OCD generally involves a combination of therapy and medications.
Therapy
The most effective therapy model for obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment is typically cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. During a treatment session, you are exposed to images or situations that focus on your obsessions. This type of therapy aims to slowly expose you to the source of your fears in a safe and supportive environment. In the beginning, this type of exposure will lead to increased anxiety. As part of treatment, you are instructed not to perform your usual rituals to reduce stress and worry. By “sitting with” a feared situation without a negative outcome, those in treatment learn that their feared thoughts are just “thoughts” rather than reality.
This type of therapy aims to help you learn that it is possible to cope with fearful thoughts (obsessions) without turning to compulsions (ritual behaviors). In time, the anxiety that evolves out of not performing compulsions will reduce. Using specific guidelines, your treatment provider at Meadowglade will develop an exposure plan that begins with lower anxiety situations and progresses to higher anxiety situations with the goal of helping you face each of your fears as part of a safe therapeutic experience.
Medication
Depending on the severity of your symptoms, medications may also be recommended as part of your treatment plan. The most commonly used class of medications for obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. These medications, often used to treat depression, have shown effectiveness in treating OCD. There are several different types of SSRI medications, so if you do not respond well to one medication, you may respond to another.
Other types of mental health medications may also be effective in treating OCD. Some studies show noticeable benefits take between 6 and 12 weeks to present. Someone who enters therapy with mild to moderate OCD symptoms are typically treated with either CBT or medication depending on their preference, their treatment needs and goals, and the presence of any color-occurring mental or physical health conditions. For someone with severe OCD, a combination of both cognitive behavioral therapy and medication is generally recommended to achieve the greatest possible treatment outcomes.
Remember that medications are not ideal for everyone and all treatment needs. It is important to work with your treatment team at Meadowglade to determine if medications might be a beneficial addition to your treatment plan. It is also necessary to discuss any current medications or medical conditions that may impact the effectiveness or safety of incorporating mental health medications into your treatment plan.