Written by Rob Baird
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that can disrupt your life and involves repetitive thoughts that are difficult to subside. It frequently starts in childhood and can last a person’s entire life. OCD can be difficult to understand, and therefore it can be difficult for medical professionals to diagnose. You may think you have it, but having a comforting routine or being a perfectionist is different than having constant intrusive thoughts that guide your actions. Can-Am would like to bring awareness to this common issue and some of its symptoms. If you suspect you or a loved one is suffering from OCD (mild or severe), please be aware of these more common symptoms.
The most common symptoms of OCD:
Hoarding
This is a behavioral trait of many people that have OCD. It’s most commonly described as “hoarding, collecting and keeping things with little or no use or value.” While hoarding on its own doesn’t necessarily point to this particular mental disorder, having another symptom, such as depression, compulsive shopping, or tic disorder, makes OCD more likely. Hoarding in itself can become a health hazard (e.g., a tripping or fire risk) as items pile up and can even pose significant challenges to emergency personnel who would need to access to your home.
Requiring Order
Suffering from OCD often requires things to be a certain way, and they may exhibit behaviors such as, arranging canned goods to face the same way, or counting as you step on sidewalk lines for example. Experiencing intense stress when objects aren’t orderly is also very common.
Frequent Handwashing
Although we’re taught to wash our hands often to avoid getting sick, the practice of doing it constantly is one that’s frequently associated with OCD. This can include frequent washing with soap and water or excessive use of hand sanitizer.
Checking Appliances
If you’ve ever been on a plane or in a car on your way to work and wondered if you turned the stove off, you may have a mild symptom of OCD. However, while you may think about it and then put it out of your mind or even check twice if you can (which is normal), those with OCD must return to the same appliance (e.g., the stove) multiple times or return home to assure themselves that it’s off.
Thoughts of Violence
This can affect an OCD sufferer in a couple of ways, including constant fears about getting hurt, either by an accident or by someone else’s hand. This can lead to a “checking” behavior to ensure doors are always locked.
Touching Objects
OCD sufferers may have a habit of touching or tapping objects in a particular way, and this symptom can go hand-in-hand with the counting compulsion noted earlier. This constant touching can border on superstition, for example, “needing to touch a door four times before leaving a room” due to having “unlucky numbers” in their routines, adds the source. Rubbing objects can also be associated with OCD.
The Unseen Symptoms
Not all OCD behaviors can be noticed by someone from the outside. Some of these behaviors are internal “mental rituals” that can be distressing or debilitating to the sufferer, but not trigger any red flags to those around them. Some perform rituals in their head, such as saying prayers or trying to replace a ‘bad’ image or thought with a ‘good’ image or thought.” This can involve going over the same thoughts in your head until they feel “right.”
Avoidance
A common coping mechanism for those with OCD and anxiety is the avoidance of any potential triggers. The goal is preventing the distress and anguish and the hours of rituals they will be compelled to perform if faced by a trigger. This could be avoiding places, specific situations, or even people. While it’s good to recognize what sets off these behaviors, avoiding situations, places or things could prevent you from living your life, not to mention it’s just another form of sweeping things under the rug.
Constant Reassurance
One of the reasons why people who suffer from OCD feel the need to check things is for reassurance. When an individual checks the stove multiple times, it is to reassure themselves that it is not turned on and not a hazard. Sometimes the initial check isn’t enough to provide temporary relief and they go back until they feel they’re okay and have been reassured. Reassurance can come in other forms, such as seeking reassurance from others (e.g., that they didn’t embarrass themselves) and ask them multiple times to repeat the events of social situations. Also, children can often seek reassurance from their parents for information about the world. While this is a totally normal behavior, what signifies OCD is continuously asking for reassurance on the same topic for a sense of relief.
Excessive Religious Focus
Religion is very important to people, because it provides a basis for their beliefs and values. However, someone with OCD may place a slightly stronger emphasis on religion for other purposes. Someone who isn’t suffering from OCD would quickly move on from a disturbing thought, whereas someone with OCD would dwell on it and feel guilty or remorseful.
Memory Hoarding
The disorder called “memory hoarding,” which is not quite the same as the physical hoarding of objects we already mentioned, although there are similar goals, memory hoarding is a mental compulsion to over-attend to the details of an event, person, or object in an attempt to mentally store it for safekeeping. Adding this serves the same function for a “mental hoarder” as an old newspaper might for a hoarder of old newspapers.
Excoriation Disorder
Picking at one’s own skin, also known as dermatillomania, can be a sign of OCD. It is characterized by repeated picking at one’s own skin which results in skin lesions and causes significant disruption in one’s life. While some people might feel compelled to pick at acne or scabs, those who suffer from this disorder often pick at healthy skin. The condition is usually chronic, but there can be periods of remission followed by greater intensity of the symptoms.
Excessive Fear of Guilt
Intense fear of guilt may be at the heart of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Having a predisposition to feeling guilty can become pathological and lead to OCD. Patients with OCD may perceive guilt to be more threatening than most people do, making the emotion intolerable. The patient will attempt to “cleanse” any thought or impulse that may trigger guilt.
Sexual Obsessions
While it is common and normal to have sexual fantasies, those with OCD will often experience sexual obsessions that are more intrusive. About 6 to 24 percent of OCD patients will experience some form of sexual obsession. The obsessions often involve themes that are considered forbidden. However, it’s important to note that while OCD sufferers might have these kinds of thoughts, it doesn’t mean they will act on them. In fact, a person with OCD will find the obsession immoral and feel repelled at the thought of acting upon it.
Fear of Contamination or Dirt
One of the more specific symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder is an intense fear of contamination or dirt. This symptom goes hand in hand with frequent handwashing. Typically, those that struggle with this fear become distressed to touch things that other people may have touched such as doorknobs. They may also avoid hugging, shaking hands, or touching others because of this fear of contamination.
Fear of Losing Control
The fear of losing control is often a symptom associated with OCD. This fear is often what leads to obsessive checking behaviors. It’s been shown that people who believe they’re going to lose control are significantly more likely to exhibit checking behavior with greater frequency.
Counting
Another common symptom of OCD is the tendency to perform tasks in a certain pattern or counting while performing certain tasks. A common example of this is counting while you walk up the stairs or while you clean. Often these counting behaviors stem from superstitious beliefs.
Dwelling on Relationships
Patients who have been diagnosed with OCD often struggle with relationships and tend to dissect individual encounters at length whether it be with romantic partners, friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers. An example of this could be dwelling extensively on an interaction with a coworker and whether they were offended. Dwelling on uncomfortable situations is common human nature, but it could be a sign of OCD if this spirals into deep-rooted fear or self-doubt.
Help?
Treating and managing OCD is a common and obtainable practice. If you or someone you care about can relate to some of the issues listed above, OCD may be the issue. Can-Am Interventions would like to invite you to reach out to us so we can help to find the best treatment option(s) best suited for those suffering from this debilitating problem. We are here and ready to help you.
For More Information:
E: patti.pike@canaminterventions.com W: www.canaminterventions.com
1-800-638-1812 Toll Free Internationally 415-827-3725 Cell /Text 415-578-2875 Office
Written by Rob Baird
