What Is OCD?

OCD is a mental health condition where a person experiences a repeated cycle of:

• Obsessions: unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges

• Compulsions: behaviors or mental acts they feel driven to perform to reduce the anxiety from those thoughts

This cycle can become very time-consuming and interfere with daily life.

What Are Obsessions?

Obsessions are:

• Repetitive thoughts, doubts, or fears that are hard to control

• Often disturbing or distressing

• Known by the person to be irrational or exaggerated, but still feel very real and powerful

Examples:

• Fear of germs, dirt, or contamination

• Worrying that something terrible will happen

• Unwanted thoughts of violence or harm

• Needing things to be in exact order or perfectly balanced

  
  

What Are Compulsions?

Compulsions are:

• Repetitive actions or rituals that the person feels they must do

• Performed to try to stop the obsession, reduce anxiety, or prevent something bad from happening

• Often not connected logically to the fear, or are clearly excessive

Examples:

• Washing hands over and over

• Checking locks or switches many times

• Counting or repeating words in a certain way

• Arranging items until they feel “just right”

The person may feel temporary relief after doing a compulsion, but the obsession often comes back.

What Causes OCD?

There is no single cause of OCD, but possible contributing factors include:

• Genetics: it can run in families

• Brain differences: certain parts of the brain may function differently

• Chemical imbalance: especially involving serotonin

• Stress or trauma: can trigger or worsen symptoms

Signs of OCD

• Spending a lot of time on rituals or thoughts (more than an hour a day)

• Avoiding situations that may trigger obsessions

• Feeling highly anxious if a compulsion is not done

• Knowing the behavior is not logical but still feeling unable to stop

  
  

How Is OCD Treated?

OCD can be managed effectively with:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): especially a method called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

• Medication: such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

• Support: from mental health professionals, friends, and family

Treatment helps reduce the power of obsessions and the need to do compulsions, allowing people to live more freely

Note/summary— A person with OCD might be scared of something which is not real, but still believes it is real and does things to prevent it, even though deep down they still know it is not real. When hearing or seeing them talk or do this we might think it is just something silly and ask them to just ignore it, but it is way harder than that, people with OCD gets danger signals or feels something like, if they don’t switch on the light 5 times before going to bed, something bad will happen to them. Even though the belief is not real the emotions which they experience is real.