characteristics

• obsession


  these include forbidden / inappropriate ideas and visual images that are not based on reality
• compulsion


  include intense and uncontrollable urges to repetitively perform tasks

  these are an attempt to reduce distress
• common obsessions


  • germs
  • losing control / urges to hurt others
  • perfectionism
  • religion, fear of being immoral
• common compulsions


  • excessive washing and cleaning
  • excessive checking
  • repetitive body movements
  • hoarding
• DSM-5 


  this recognises OCD as a range of related behaviours that all include repetitive behaviour accompanied by obsessive thinking

  • trichotillomania (hair pulling)
  • hoarding disorder (the compulsive gathering of possessions and the inability to part with anything)
  • excoriation disorder (skin picking)
• behavioural examples

  compulsions are repetitive, sufferers feel completed to repeat behaviour

  compulsions reduce anxiety, this behaviour is performed in an attempt to manage anxiety reduced by the obsession
• emotional examples

  Anxiety & Distress 

  • OCD is regarded as a particularly unpleasant emotional experience because of the powerful anxiety that accompanies both obsessions and compulsions.
  • Obsessive thoughts can be frightening or forbidden, these can lead to an urge to repeat a behaviour (compulsion) which in turn creates anxiety. 

  Accompanying Depression

  • OCD and depression are often diagnosed together because anxiety can be accompanied by a low mood and lack of enjoyment of activities. Compulsive behaviour tends to bring some relief from the anxiety, but this is only temporary.
• cognitive example

  People suffering with OCD are usually plagued with obsessive thoughts, but they also adopt cognitive strategies to deal with these.

  For around 90% of OCD sufferers the major cognitive feature of their condition is obsessive thoughts that recur over and over again and are usually unpleasant.
• cognitive startegies for obsession

  Some sufferers of OCD adopt cognitive strategies to deal with their obsessions. For example, suffers with religious obsessions may pray over and over, to reduce their feelings of being immoral. 

  Furthermore, sufferers of OCD know that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational (insight into their disorder), and experience selective attention directed towards the anxiety-generating stimuli (similar to the selective attention found in phobias).