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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects roughly 1.2% of the adult population of the United States, with women at a slightly higher rate of diagnosis. Knowing the symptoms of OCD can make you aware of when to seek help.

Common Symptoms of OCD

The symptoms of OCD can interrupt your daily activities and rob you of precious time. Most of the symptoms are time-consuming, strain relationships, and create feelings of humiliation, embarrassment, and shame.

The symptoms of OCD begin with an intrusive thought, an obsession that creates urges or compulsions to act to make the individual feel safer or better. For example, someone with OCD may feel the need to check the back door to confirm it is locked.

They are gripped by an excessive fear that there might be a break-in if they do not check the door. They may repeatedly unlock and lock the door, returning to check on it several times. They may develop a repetitive routine.

These repetitive behaviors interfere with their daily activities and responsibilities.

The following are several symptoms of OCD, including obsessions and compulsions.

Excessive Worry, Fear, and Anxiety

Most people experience a mild level of anxiety as a normal reaction to worry and stress. But, in some people, whether due to brain chemical imbalances, issues with brain structure or function, genetics, trauma, or a coexisting mental condition, these levels of worry, anxiety, and fear become excessive.

Fear can immobilize a person. As a response, the individual creates behaviors or routines to self-soothe. These behaviors, however, can lead to embarrassment, low self-esteem, and isolation.

Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are thoughts that seem to come out of nowhere. They can be full of fear, worry, anxiety, or even violence. Some people with OCD struggle with thoughts of self-harm or harming others.

Your thoughts influence your emotions and behaviors. Counselors rely on an effective treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients identify intrusive thoughts, challenge, and reframe these thoughts to result in a different behavior. CBT is effective in treating OCD and other mental conditions.

Handwashing and Hand Sanitizing

The fear of germs or of getting sick triggers repeated handwashing and hand sanitizing rituals. These strict regimens can leave the individual feeling isolated and humiliated. They may spend hours a day washing and sanitizing their hands and their environment. They may insist that others do the same.

The pandemic was a challenging time for people who struggle with or lean toward OCD tendencies. In some cases, these individuals are still struggling with the impulse to clean and sanitize to protect themselves and their family from illness.

Double and Triple Checking

Double and triple checking create rituals that interfere with one’s work and relationships. The fear that something might go wrong or that someone might be endangered because you didn’t complete a checking ritual triggers extreme anxiety. Checking provides that temporary relief.

Learning how to walk away without checking is a gradual process. Counseling can help by providing you with a safe environment to practice and accountability as you work to decrease the number of times you check or interrupt the ritual by doing something else.

Ordering and Arranging

If you do not struggle with this symptom of OCD, you may know someone who does. Ordering and arranging are common OCD traits. The individual may insist that the pantry is arranged with items in specific spots and forward-facing. Or they may completely rearrange the dishwasher or linen closet. These rituals are time-consuming and can cause rifts in relationships if they demand that others follow their lead.

Ordering and arranging can seem beneficial at work, and people struggling with OCD may use the organization as part of their skill set. However, if left unchecked, they may get distracted by a ritual and sidetracked from their duties.

Counting

Counting is another symptom that provides relief in a chaotic environment or when the individual feels stressed or worried. They may count things around them, such as ceiling tiles, floor tiles, toothpicks, or paper clips. They may tap an object a specific number of times when coming in or leaving a room.

In some cases, people struggling with a counting compulsion may work on mathematical equations to relieve stress and focus on an intrusive thought. For example, they may excessively rework their home budget to provide themselves with the sensation that “everything will be okay.”

Christian Counseling in Redding, California

If you need help with the symptoms of OCD, contact us at Redding Christian Counseling today. We will connect you to a Christian counselor in Redding, California who will lead you through an assessment. You can learn to manage the symptoms of OCD until they no longer interfere with your daily life. Reach out to us today.

Photo:
“Bookshelves”, Courtesy of Vladimir Mokry, Unsplash.com, CC0 License

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