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This page contains extracts from indivisuals anecdotes and stories aswell as research.

The purpose of this page is to reach a wider audience and those who may be looking for information and resources on Obcessive Compulsive Disorder and it's subtypes.

26/04/2022

Very simply put, ego dystonic thoughts are thoughts that are not in line with who we are and/or what we believe. This is a common way that obsessions manifest in the context of OCD (i.e. “what if I harm a loved one?,” “what if I offend the higher power in which I believe?”).

When we experience ego dystonic thoughts, we are distressed because it threatens what believe to be right, safe, understandable, and true. Having a comprehensive knowledge of ourselves is a strength in the treatment process as it helps us delineate what thoughts do and do not deserve our attention. Albeit uncomfortable, ego dystonic thoughts are all bark and no bite!

25/04/2022

Hypochondria, also called Hypochondriasis or “Health Anxiety” or “Illness Anxiety”, is best described as the obsessive, irrational fear of having a serious medical condition.
Symptoms of Hypochondria / Health Anxiety vary widely from person to person. Some examples of common compulsions seen in Hypochondria / Health Anxiety are:
📍multiple doctor visits, sometimes “doctor-hopping” on the same day
📍multiple medical tests, often for the same alleged condition
📍repetitive checking of the body for symptoms of an alleged medical condition
📍repeatedly avoiding contact with objects or situations for fear of exposure to diseases
📍habitual internet searching for information about illnesses and their symptoms (“Cyberchondria“)

24/04/2022

Perinatal / Postpartum OCD is a significant problem that can affect expectant and new mothers and fathers. Perinatal refers to the period of time from approximately 4-5 months prior to giving birth to one month after giving birth. Postpartum refers to the first 2-3 months after giving birth. Perinatal and postpartum mental illnesses range from the relatively benign “baby blues” to the most severe, postpartum psychosis.
Perinatal / Postpartum OCD, the focus of the obsessions is often on the fear of purposely harming the newborn, or somehow being responsible for accidental harm.

Unfortunately, Perinatal / Postpartum OCD is quite often misdiagnosed as being depression. The reason for this appears to be three-fold. First, many women with Perinatal / Postpartum OCD also have depression. While some experts estimate that as many as 30% of new mother with postpartum depression also have postpartum OCD, one recent study found that 57% of new mothers with postpartum depression also had symptoms of Postpartum OCD.

Treatment for postpartum or perinatal OCD consists of intense CBT, however antidepressants also help to calm the thought process and impede the majority of intrusive thought, however a discussion with a medical practitioner and trialling with doses and medication types might be required before some relief is established.

23/04/2022

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is not a subtype of OCD. However it is still an anxiety disorder strongly linked to eating disorders. Eating disorders have the highest rate of fatalities among all mental illnesses and disorders globally, affecting especially females.

The primary distinguishing feature of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is an obsessive preoccupation with a perceived defect in one’s physical appearance.

DD obsessions may manifest as excessive, disproportionate concerns about a perceived flaws, or as recurrent, anxiety-provoking thoughts about one’s appearance.
BDD has obsessive-compulsive features that are quite similar to those of OCD.
Some examples of common compulsions seen in Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) are:

📍Repetitive checking of a minor or imagined flaw in mirrors
📍Avoidance of mirrors
📍Avoidance of having picture taken
📍Repetitive grooming activities such as shaving, combing hair, etc.
📍Repetitive checking, touching and/or measuring of a minor or imagined defect
📍Wearing excessive make-up to camouflage a minor or imagined flaw
📍Wearing certain clothes to camouflage a minor or imagined defect
📍Multiple medical visits
📍Excessive aesthetic procedures and debt

Cognitive behaviour therapy and other medical and dietry interventions are successful in treating easting disorders and BDD. Please speak to you medical practitioner who will be able to refer to the relevant treatment options.

31/03/2022

Religious people across the world are haunted by feelings of doubt, guilt, and anxiety that torment them by attacking their faith. Scrupulosity is a form of OCD in which the sufferer’s primary anxiety is the fear of being guilty of religious, moral, or ethical failure.

Other OCD subtypes also overlap with Scrupulosity OCD, such as Gay or Sexual Orientation OCD. For example, a gay individual might have s*xual thoughts towards a same s*x person, which in turn trigger an obsessive desire to “undo” that thought in an effort to be pure, holy, and clean. The same can happen to a straight person. If the scrupulous individual upholds an exaggerated belief that lustful thoughts in and of themselves will automatically result in eternal condemnation, the cycle begins.

Common compulsions may include:
📍Repeated and ritualized confessing (to religious figures such as priests, church elders, and/or to friends and family)
📍Excessive, ritualized praying and/or reading of the bible or other religious texts
📍Repeating specific verses from the bible or other religious texts (either out loud or silently)
📍Mentally reviewing past acts and/or thoughts in an effort to prove to one’s self that one has not committed a sin or acted in a manner thy construe to be immoral or unethical or counter to one’s faith
📍Ritualized “undoing” behaviors to counteract perceived sins and transgressions
📍Excessive acts of self-sacrifice (i.e., giving away relatively large amounts of money or earthly possessions)

31/03/2022

Gay or Sexual Orientation OCD is a subtype of the wider disorder.
Over the years, therapists have treated many gay individuals as well as straight individuals who are plagued by obsessive fears of being an impostor in their s*xuality and who suffer equally when OCD attacks their s*xual identity. Furthermore, the fears that clients with this condition report have little to do with actually becoming gay (or straight).

🎯It also appears to have little to do with homophobia or bigotry.

Many people who suffer from Sexual Orientation OCD get stuck on the notion that they may or may not find someone attractive and that this may or may not mean something important about them s*xually.

They will often then attend to and monitor their genitalia to check for arousal in an attempt to prove or disprove the theory. This often backfires since the brain sends motor signals to parts of our body we focus on before we even attempt to move them, this is the same mechanism that leads to ‘groinal response’ a completely natural phenomenon.

31/03/2022

Relationship OCD (ROCD) is a subtype of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in which the sufferer experiences intrusive, unwanted and distressing thoughts about the strength, quality, and “true nature” of their love for their partner. Obsessions in ROCD include a preoccupation with a partner’s compatability, overall level of attractiveness, s*xual desirability, or long-term compatibility, and often arise in otherwise entirely healthy relationships.

Some common compulsions seen in ROCD include:

📍Having s*x with your partner in order to check for arousal and/or feelings of emotional connection.
📍Frequently breaking up with your partner.
📍Compulsive online researching about love or relationship issues.
📍Asking family members and friends to rate the compatibility of your relationship.
📍Compulsively asking others about their relationships and comparing feedback.

Although relationship anxiety can be natural, relationship OCD can sometimes consume an indivisual's every thougt lasting hours to days or even weeks.

31/03/2022

Harm OCD is a manifestation of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in which an individual experiences intrusive, unwanted, distressing thoughts of causing harm to their loved ones either accidentally or deliberately in an act of insanity.

Common obsessions of Harm OCD involve thoughts of:

📍Suddenly snapping and violently attacking a loved one.
📍Suddenly have an uncontrollable urge to push someone into traffic, jump out a window, or experience some other impulse that will result in me being responsible for my death or someone else’s death.
📍Fear of losing consciousness and somehow committing violent acts that we do not remember.

The compulsions in Harm OCD often go unnoticed by others. But individuals with Harm OCD almost always exhibit various compulsions that fall into four categories – checking, avoidance, reassurance seeking, and mental rituals.

01/03/2022

Here is a tricky one.
These behaviors are not as easily observed as other, more obvious OCD symptoms, such as hand-washing and lock-checking, but they are clearly compulsive responses to unwanted obsessions. Some common examples of compulsions seen in Pure Obsessional OCD include:

• Avoiding numerous situations in which one fears the possible onset of unwanted thoughts.

• Repeatedly asking for reassurance .

• Silently praying or repeating certain phrases.

• Performing superstitious behaviors in an effort to ensure that bad things don’t happen.

• Checking thought process to asure oneself that you are not what your thoughts say you are.

• Dibilitating self-doubt.

01/03/2022

OCD is just intrusive thoughts that are hard to deal with and cause a vast amount of anxiety and worry. It’s not the same as hearing voices that aren’t there; it’s their own thoughts/ voice working against them. Some people with OCD may have violent, scary or strange thoughts, but people with OCD won’t act on them because acting on them is their worst fear.

24/02/2022

Sure you can.

Everyone experiences intrusive thoughts. However, some people just dismiss them as they go about their normal life, others become increasingly distressed by them and develop compulsions to sooth the anxiety they bring, and so the OCD circle starts again. Why intrusive thoughts really impact some of us is unknow just yet, but there are some great theories out there.

It is theorised that there is a link between the type of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and the development of OCD in those without the pre-existing disorder. Thoughts or Obsession types of a somatic, symmetric and harm/aggressive nature tend to correlate to the development of new onset OCD in those with no history of the disorder.

It is possible to have subclinical OCD symptoms such as just obsessions or compulsions. Obsession only subclinical OCD is possible in those without pre-existing OCD, however research shows that it is more strongly tied to depression.

23/02/2022

The potential role of stressful life events (SLEs) in the onset of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has been suggested by studies; however the link between the types of SLE and the Type of OCD has to date been under research.

There is now clear indication that the types of SLE can trigger specific OCD obsessions. For example, in a study by Rosso et al, 2012. At least one event preceded the onset of OCD in 200/329 study subjects (61%). And this was significantly associated with a sudden trigger of Somatic and Symmetry OCD in females.

Moreover, the study identified three specific traumatic events (“hospitalization of a family member”, “major personal physical illness”, “loss of personally valuable object or cash”) significantly associated with the following compulsions (symmetry obsessions, repeating, ordering/arranging, counting, and checking).

23/02/2022

Women with pregnancy-onset OCD or perinatal worsening of preexisting OCD are more likely to experience premenstrual exacerbation of their OCD symptoms as compared to those women with symptoms that are unaffected by pregnancy.

(Forray et al., 2010; Neziroglu et al., 2010)

🔗Link in Bio

22/02/2022

No. Just like everyone has different thoughts, obsessions are all different. Intrusive thoughts are often very detailed and vivid, can be violent and morbid. However different from person to person most obsessions are very distressing and lead onto the development of compulsions; or behaviours created to sooth and cope with the extreme distress and anxiety caused by the intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts do fall into a variety of common themes.

These themes are:
Harm onto others (accidental or deliberate)
Death and Su***de
Illness (mental and physical)
Pedophelic thoughts
Violent Sexual thoughts
Gender concerns
Sexual Orientation concerns
Religious virtue concerns
Relationship concerns and paranoia

21/02/2022

Matt Townsend is a father, husband, and life-long anxiety and OCD sufferer.

If you have previous history of OCD or have a genetic predisposition to developing OCD there is a higher chance that you might tigger the disorder during major life changes such as fatherhood.

OCD can be particularly cruel for men. The stigma that it carries can be crushing, many of the obsessions surrounding postpartum OCD involve intrusive thoughts of physical harm (accidental or intentional) happening to small and defenceless infants. It can be incredibly shameful to admit to having these thoughts. Another common obsession theme is Paedophilia OCD, intrusive thoughts of you or others being s*xually inappropriate with small children, sometimes your own children. The stigma surrounding these themes for a man have contributed largely to the under reported cases of OCD in men.

It is important to speak to a mental health professional, someone who is aware that these thoughts are not reflective of who you are, but simply stem from anxiety and your brain’s inability to filter out distressing thoughts.

Remember that everyone has intrusive thoughts, however some of us, react and respond to these thoughts less than others. Why that is, is still under study but many academics theorise that those who develop OCD and react strongly against their intrusive thoughts are thought to have a strong sense of identity and moral compass.

20/02/2022

Perinatal OCD can be referred to as Postpartum, Maternal, Postnatal or Paternal OCD.

This can get very confusing.
Maternal and Paternal OCD are often used to differentiate the differences between OCD experiences by new dads and moms. Although many of the OCD obsessions are similar in both gender, maternal OCD has been linked to post-delivery hormonal changes in a female body, particularly seen where a mother has not previously had a history of OCD.

Maternal and paternal OCD are subcategories of Perinatal or Postpartum OCD.

Postpartum and postnatal have the same meaning; and refer to the same period, being the after-time period directly after the birth of the child, usually from the onset of delivery to about 1 year.

The perinatal period is usually referred to the time in which the woman is pregnant.

Postpartum and Perinatal OCD are subtypes of the wider Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Spectrum as it is directly linked to a very specific set of unique events that take place in an individual’s life and which have an impact both physically (hormones) and emotionally (new life experience, sleep deprivation etc).

20/02/2022

Donald Woods Winnicott was a paediatrician and psychoanalyst who described the perinatal period as a "unique state of heightened sensitivity", whose aim is to enhance the mother’s ability to anticipate the infant’s needs and to learn its unique signals. (Winnicott 1956)

The prevalence of OCD in the general population is 1.2%, however in contrast with OCD
4-9% for prenatal and postpartum harm OCD persistting between 2 weeks and 6 months.

A normal degree of worry about our children or accidental harm that may come to them is normal. However if your preocupations and worries distress you, manifesting themselves physically by acts such as avoidance of care giving, you could have OCD.

If at 2 weeks postpartum OCD intrusive thoughts are still occurring you might have OCD and a medical assessment could be useful in order to develop a treatment plan.

OCD does not go away by itself.

17/02/2022

These 10 obsessions in the second page have been compartamentalised into subtypes because some poeple have more than one type of obsession.

OCD compulsions may appear in various forms, including recurrent observable behaviors such as hand washing, organising or not visible such as repetitive “mental compulsions” such as praying or counting rituals, repeated reassurance seeking, and/or avoidant behaviors. Yes avoidance can be a compulsion.

Compulsions can be extremely time-consuming, often taking up many hours of a person’s day.

16/02/2022

possibly one of the least studied fields of anxiety related disorders is paternal OCD. Men can and do get OCD during and after pregnancy, and thoughts can take many manifestations. Although it is called paternal OCD, it is the same as perinatal OCD, a term used for mums.

Nevertheless, only a small case series reported clinically diagnosed OCD in fathers after childbirth,3 and no data are available concerning predictors of OCD in this specific population.

Transition to parenthood can be accompanied by anxious intrusive thoughts associated with harm-avoidant behaviors, resembling those of OCD, in both males and females.

It appears that in “normal” parenthood, parental preoccupation behaviours and thoughts can offer an adaptive advantage for the babies; however, when OCD is established, negative effects on the parent-infant relationship are to be expected. Given existing OCD within couples, mothers witah diagnosed OCD should have their partners evaluated for this disorder. (Coelho et al, Rev. Bras. Psiquiatr. 36 (3) • Jul-Sep 2014)

14/02/2022

"I remember sitting on the sofa looking at my mother-in-law holding my kid in front of a wall and thinking how easy it would be to get up and throw him against it," she says.

"I could see it all, it was absolutely horrible and really detailed, very vivid, accompanied with images in my head of my future and what I'd have done to my family and my friends as a result."

Catherine Benfield like many other women with this condition would never actually carry out the actions they visualise, but Catherine's intrusive thoughts left her feeling anxious, depressed and isolated.

"I didn't know it was OCD," she says. "I thought I wanted to do it. I thought, 'What kind of mother has thoughts like that about her child?"

What people should know is that OCD os egodystonic, meaning that it often does not align with an individuals morals, belief system or intentions. It's hard to say these thoughts out loud, but they fear is exactly what fuels OCD. You are not broken, or a bad parent, your brain is just keeping you on flight mode.

Head to the link at the top of our profile to read the full tory.

13/02/2022

For some people, their OCD compulsions make them keep things clean and tidy, but that is because of a fear of contamination, or to prevent something bad from happening.

You can also have OCD and still enjoy a clutter free home.

In the same way that you maybe very meticulous about personal hygiene and suffer from contamination OCD, yet you might hoard copious amounts of random objects such as pens, photo albums, newspapers etc. OCD isn't linear, and is intrinsically a condition that can appear to be contradictory.

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13/02/2022

I mean, this is the worst consequece that comes
from trivialising OCD by using as a coloquial term for
being 'hyper-organised'. Besides it being extremely
annoying a lot of the time.

"I put off my OCD diagnosis for years. First of all it was
a mental illness that no one seemed to take seriously,
so I overlooked it as a potential issue I was suffering
from. I remember watching the film 'The Aviator' with
Leo DiCaprio and thinking OCD was just about being a
germaphobe, I went undiagnosed for years because of
sterotyoes I saw on TV. These sterotyoes only touched
the top of the iceberg. No one makes jokes about
depression, yet ADHD, OCD and Bipolar disorder,
seems to be something someone is 'a bit' of. It wasn't
until I had my first child that I experienced harm and
postpartum OCD. It's not funny it's debilitating, it's
scary, I feel sometimes my mind has a virus".

11/02/2022

Generally you can't.

The obessions or intrusive thoughts can be so horrendous that they can manifest themselves physically. Some people shudder, others cry and others seems in general physical distress.

With many compulsions you can identify a specific action: he’s washing his hands so many times, she’s checking the stove again, they won’t stop apologizing.

Mental compulsions are the easiest to conceal as they are internal.

But avoidance, also a form of compulsion, is silent and can pass off as atypical behaviour.

Avoidance is less noticeable, and so can be easier to hide, than anything besides mental compulsions. It can also blend seamlessly in with the way tons of people behave anyways: "Nah, I’m kind of tired, I think I’ll stay in and watch something on Netflix."

11/02/2022

Trivializing OCD, in pop culture, comedy and even on our day-to-day reinforces the common misconception that OCD is about being very uptight about cleaning and organizing.

It increases stigma rather, and may prevent individuals from seeking help for their disorder because they fear ridicule, being misunderstood or they might doubt they might miss key symptoms which can lead to a proper diagnosis.

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11/02/2022

When individuals begin to develop obsessions they may begin to perform compulsive or avoidant behaviors in an effort to reduce their anxiety.

Our obsessions can be overwhelming, stealing away much of our attention and focus.
Some of us know when we are obsessing, but many of us have trouble identifying our compulsions.

Especially because compulsions are often represented in the media and pop culture as repetitive behaviors such as hand washing. OCD is a multi-dynamic disorder.

Compulsions can range from repetitive behaviors (washing hands, cleaning surfaces), to sensory deprivation (showering due to sound of water, hoovering for white noise) to checking the internet for information on illness, death, and other OCD obsessions, to making mental check lists.

Unfortunately, while performing these behaviors may at first diminish the anxiety, it actually reinforces and worsens it in the long-term. This in turn leads to an increase in compulsive or avoidant behaviors, which leads to even more anxiety.

Successful treatment involves Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

Other variations of treatment include:
a variant of ERP called imaginal exposure and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy as well as medication.

To read more about treatment methods please check the links in the bio, located at the top of my profile.

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