Common Obsessions and Fears
Mental thoughts and images of harming others, even loved ones
Inappropriate sexual urges that are perceived
Homosexuality
Scrupulous thoughts and perfection
Contamination and disease
Need for things to be orderly, or just right
Inability to discard unneeded or useless items
Common Compulsions or Rituals used to alleviate or avoid anxiety and stress
Repetitive checking/reassurance
Excessive hand washing
Counting and calculating
Obsessive praying
Restating
Purposeful escape
Avoidance, both mental and physical
Strict adherence to routines and rules
Prevalence
Research suggests there is more than a 2% lifetime prevalence of OCD in the general population. While adolescent OCD is more common in males, According to the DSM-5, more females experience OCD in adulthood than males – with the average age of onset in the U.S. is 19.5.
About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychological disorder that can be severely painful, distressing, and debilitating. OCD can rob individuals who suffer from the disorder significant time and energy. OCD is characterized by the presentation of obsessions and compulsions that can occur independently or in conjunction with each other. OCD is an ego dystonic disorder (which means that the feared obsessions go against the sufferer’s sense of self or natural beliefs); therefore the obsessions create intense anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.
Obsessions are typically defined as persistent unwanted, even unreasonable and disturbing thoughts, urges, and images that cause significant distress and anxiety.
Compulsions or rituals are mental and/or physical behaviors that are performed repetitiously in an attempt to alleviate the obsessions. Unfortunately, the use of compulsions only provide brief relief and feed the obsessions, compounding the pain and suffering.
More about OCD
BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER (BDD)
Individuals with BDD generally have an exaggerated and misconceived preoccupation with their physical appearance or a minor bodily flaw that is not seen or noticed by others, but causes significant distress to the individual. Common compulsions seen in BDD are checking, reassurance seeking, repetitive medical procedures, and excessive camouflaging of perceived defects. – Allen et. al
TRICHOTILLOMANIA
Trichotillomania involves repetitive hair pulling, which results in significant hair loss. The behaviors seen in trichotillomania and excoriation a less motivated by fear, rather they are triggered by feelings of anger, grief, boredom, tension, and depression. – Abramowitz & Jacoby, 2015; Allen et al., 2003, APA, 2013, Fontenelle & Grant, 2014
EXCORIATION
Excoriation is described by excessive skin picking, which results in lesions or sores. As seen in trichotillomania and other obsessive-compulsive related disorders, excoriation significantly affects personal, social or occupational functioning.
HOARDING
Hoarding is characterized by the excessive accumulation and saving of possessions that carry little to no value, and results in difficulty and distress in discarding of items.