Just because you’re struggling with symptoms commonly associated with it, doesn’t mean you have a disorder. That’s why PCH takes a holistic approach to identifying and understanding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in the individual.
Common Symptoms of OCD
OCD symptoms manifest in a variety of ways, but they often fall into one of two categories: obsession symptoms and compulsion symptoms. While individuals with obsessive-compulsive cognitive styles or traits may also experience these symptoms, it is indicative of a “disorder” when they interfere with daily life and cause significant distress.
Checking your trunk once to make sure you didn’t forget your briefcase on the way to work is an example of obsessive-compulsive behavior, but it isn’t until you find yourself having to check the trunk ten times on the way to work that treatment or intervention may become necessary.
Let’s examine the most common underlying patterns and symptoms of OCD to clarify the difference between obsessive-compulsive behavior and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive Symptoms
Symptoms of obsession in an individual include obtrusive, unwanted thought patterns that repeatedly cause distress or anxiety. The individual may then try to ignore or appease those thoughts with a performative ritual or behavior. The obsessive component of obsessive-compulsive behavior often manifests itself as an underlying fear, anxiety, or preference, such as:
- A fear of germs, contamination, or infection (driven by an obsession with cleanliness)
- Needing order and symmetry in specific things (driven by an obsession with orderliness)
- Repeatedly checking that you haven’t forgotten something (driven by an obsession with competence/not failing)
Compulsive Symptoms
While obsessive symptoms start with a thought pattern and lead to an individual taking specific actions, compulsive symptoms often center around an activity that an individual feels compelled to perform. The individual may perform these repetitive actions with the intention of reducing anxiety related to an obsession or preventing something bad from occurring, but the act itself provides no pleasure, doesn’t resolve the root of the anxiety, and at best, only offers temporary relief of the anxiety.
Examples of compulsive symptoms include:
- Repetitive washing or cleaning
- Repeated checking or counting
- Excessive orderliness or routine
How Do You Know if You Have OCD Symptoms?
If you consider yourself a perfectionist, your friends or family may have teased you for being “OCD” in the past. If life or world events like COVID-19 seem to have escalated those tendencies, you’re not alone—but that doesn’t mean you’re experiencing OCD symptoms. OCD is never as simple as worrying about real-world problems or preferring cleanliness.
Instead, obsessive-compulsive tendencies don’t indicate a “disorder,” so to speak, until they’re driven by an attempt to alleviate imaginary or irrational anxieties in a way that diminishes the individual’s quality of life. For example, feeling the need to take a shower after visiting the hospital may be an example of obsessive-compulsive behavior, but if you are able to limit that shower to 15 minutes, the behavior may actually be beneficial to your health and well-being. However, if you have to take an eight-hour shower after visiting the hospital, you may need OCD treatment and professional guidance.
PCH Takes a Holistic Approach to Compulsions and Obsessions
At PCH, we start with the understanding that obsessive-compulsive cognitive styles can often be an example of adaptive behaviors in an individual. It probably is beneficial to your health to feel the need to shower anytime you’ve been in a healthcare or clinical setting. From our perspective, that’s not a behavior that needs correcting. However, that same behavior becomes maladaptive when you feel driven to take a shower that lasts hours following a visit to the hospital.
Our experts can help you understand the differences between adaptive and maladaptive behaviors manifested by obsessive-compulsive traits. We provide you with the guidance to draw on the good—the best parts of yourself—while mitigating the negative aspects that diminish your overall well-being.
If you or someone you care about has struggled with obsessive-compulsive behavior that’s negatively impacted their quality of life, PCH can help. Reach out to our dedicated clinicians to start exploring the next steps to take on the path to treatment.
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