OCD & Anxiety
OCD and anxiety disorders can manifest in many different ways, each with unique content but similar underlying processes. For example, a person's OCD can focus on fears of contamination, harm, or moral transgressions. Anxiety can present as generalized worry, panic attacks, social anxiety, or specific phobias. Understanding the variations in different subtypes can help define therapy, decrease confusion and fear, and increase self-compassion.
OCD Subtypes
Contamination
Contamination OCD involves an intense fear of germs, dirt, illness, general feelings of disgust, and any perceived source of contamination. These lead to excessive cleaning, changing clothes, and avoidance of places, objects, and people.
Relationship
Relationship OCD is characterized by obsessive doubts and fears about the quality, authenticity, or future of a romantic relationship, leading to constant reassurance-seeking, overanalyzing, and checking behaviors.
Scrupulousity/Morality
Morality OCD involves persistent, intrusive doubts about the ethics of behavior or moral standing, leading to excessive self-scrutiny, guilt, and compulsive checking to ensure you have not committed moral transgressions.
Harm
Harm OCD is characterized by intrusive, distressing fears of causing harm to oneself or others. People engage in compulsive behaviors, avoidance, or mental rituals aimed at preventing these perceived threats.
False Memory
False memory OCD involves persistent doubts and fears around memories. People engaged in obsessive questioning, mental review, note taking, and documenting to confirm or deny whether past events occurred as remembered.
Existentialism
Existential OCD features constant questioning about the nature of existence, reality, death, identity, or purpose. These fears lead to researching, reassurance seeking, and avoidance to try to neutralize fears.
Somatic
Somatic obsessions involve persistent and intrusive worries about bodily sensations or health, often leading to excessive checking, researching, and medical consultations.
Symmetry
Symmetry OCD focuses on a need for objects or actions to be arranged in a precise, 'symmetrical' manner, leading to compulsive behaviors such as arranging items, counting, or repeating actions until a sense of balance or order is achieved.
Checking
Checking OCD involves repetitive and compulsive behaviors aimed at verifying that things are in order or safe. This includes checking locks, appliances, or personal belongings to alleviate fears of potential harm or mistakes.
Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation OCD involves intrusive doubts and fears about one's own sexual orientation, leading to excessive rumination, self-questioning, and compulsive behaviors aimed at confirming or disconfirming one's identity.
Pregnancy OCD
Pregnancy OCD involves persistent fears of becoming pregnant or a partner becoming pregnant. People engage in checking behaviors, researching, reassurance seeking, and avoidance to stop these fear.
Parinatal OCD
Perinatal OCD involves fears and compulsions related to the well-being of the unborn baby and the parent’s ability to care for the child, often resulting in excessive checking, reassurance-seeking, medical consultaitons, and anxiety about potential harm or inadequacy.
Postpartum OCD
Postpartum OCD is often under the category of Harm OCD. It involves intrusive thought around being responsible for harm coming to the baby and the parent’s ability to care for the child. Compulsions include excessive checking, reassurance-seeking, and often avoidance.
OCD Related Disorders
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Body Dysmorphic Disorder involves preoccupation with perceived flaws or defects in one's appearance. People engaged in excessive grooming, mirror checking, self-care, and receiving cosmetic procedures.
Trichotillomania
Trichotillomania, or hair pulling, is characterized by a pervasive urge to pull out one's own hair often leading to noticeable hair loss. Hair pulling can include behaviors such keeping hair, eating hair, or playing with hair.
Excoriation
Excoriation, or skin-picking, involves the urge to repeatedly pick at one's skin often leading to noticeable skin damage. Skin picking can include preoccupation around blemishes, changes in skin, and facial symmetry.
Cluttering/Hoarding
Hoarding, or cluttering, involves repetitive accumulation of items and/or difficulty discarding items. These can lead to severe clutter that can impede functioning, create unsafe living conditions, and create financial burdens.
Decluttering/Spartanism
Unlike hoarding, the compulsive need to discard is not a formal diagnosis. There as has been growing exploration of these behaviors that are often labelled as 'Spartanism'. This involves the compulsive need to discard possessions and distress around accumulation of items.
Anxiety Related Disorders
Generalized Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder involves persistent and excessive worry about various aspects of daily life and attempts to control their anxiety. Individuals often experience physical symptoms like restlessness and fatigue.
Phobias
Phobias are intense fears of specific objects, animals, situations, or activities that lead people avoid them, causing significant distress and impairment in daily functioning.
Panic Disorder
Panic Disorder is characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks as well as persistent worry about future attacks and significant avoidance of situations associated with the attacks.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia involves an intense fear of being in situations outside the home where escape might be difficult. People often report avoidance of places or situations such as crowds, public transportation, or any location outside the home.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety involves an overwhelming fear of social situations and a deep worry about being judged, disliked, or embarrassed. This distress often leads to avoidance of social interactions and withdrawal from existing relationships.
Getting help...
Understanding OCD and anxiety can be complex, as there are many specific diagnoses and struggles. However, ongoing research and client advocacy continue to shed light on common challenges faced by many. These shared patterns often respond well to proven, evidence-based approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
If you or a loved one is struggling, there are many resources and support options available to help on a journey toward wellness. Empower yourself and those around you by seeking out the right tools and professional guidance. Together, we can foster hope and healing.
