Your anxiety has gotten out of control. Maybe you know you’ve been diagnosed with OCD, or maybe your family or medical providers suspect some OCD tendencies.

At first you thought, “nah! Unlikely.” But as time progressed, you’ve noticed some of your thoughts seem to take up alot of space and energy, which lead you to behave by doing or not doing things that could trigger anxiety because of the thought, image or impulse.

You find yourself having recurrent thoughts, images or impulses that feel intrusive or “inappropriate” or disproportionate, and now it’s creating anxiety or distress. 

Your thoughts or images feel so distressing, and there’s a part of your brain that says “This probably would never happen” but the other part of your brain keeps thinking of all the “what-if’s” and worst case scenarios, and how you well end up in jail, dead or alone. 

You’ve tried to distract yourself from such thoughts or suppress or neutralize the images, impulses or thoughts, but you really struggle to find relief from the distress it causes you to even have the idea, image or thought pop up in your mind. 

It leaves you feeling tired and frustrated that your brain thinks this way to the point of now making you BEHAVE a certain way. 

In some cases, you might find yourself washing your hands excessively or having very repetitive, ritualistic behaviors or even mental acts that you apply to respond to the intrusive thoughts, images or impulses. 

You find temporary relief, and then notice that you begin to worry and  try to prevent or reduce the distress by incorporating some techniques that don’t seem to quite fully keep the anxiety and compulsion in remission for very long. 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder FLAVORS

There are several OCD symptom subtypes.  Your OCD is unique to you and attacks the areas that matter the most to you. So what flavor does your OCD take on? Here are a few common types..

• Contamination/Washing: Sometimes you spend a significant amount of time worries about germs and contamination

• Checking: You often check things excessively, like the oven, appliances, making sure the doors are locked, doubting that you checked them and going back to check it all again. 

• Harm: Some people  notice high levels of worry about losing their temper and potentially harming someone, or having intrusive thoughts of accidentally hurting someone

• Symmetry, Ordering, Arranging: You feel the need to have everything in order, aligned, organized and/or  displayed “just right” 

• Magical Thinking: If I do these rituals/routines, no harm will come to ______.

• Relational OCD: having excessive doubts about a relationship,  whether a romantic relationship or even a friendship, which can often lead to tremendous anxiety, rumination and neutralizing behaviors surrounding your feelings towards your partner, their feelings toward you, if you should still be in the relationship, hyper focused on all the flaws of the other person, and more!

•  Religious/Scrupulosity: Feeling that if you don’t go to confession every week, or say your prayers multiple times a day, or wake up at a certain time in the evening, that it makes you bad or somehow you will anger God and end up in hell. 

• Perfectionism: Nothing I do or write is just right or perfect. 

• Perinatal OCD: excessive worry about harming yourself, your baby, or others

You have come to believe that because you have an intrusive thought, that somehow it might make it true. And if you speak the words aloud, that people will judge you or send you off to a mental hospital. People who don’t understand OCD might find your thoughts peculiar, but in my therapy room, your thoughts are just that….a part of you who struggles with all the OCD symptoms whose job is to protect you by having you think of all the worst case scenarios. But now it’s just making you feel STUCK in the what-if’s, the need to do things to keep yourself safe at the expense of your mental, social and emotional health.

OCD has consumed so much of your daily mental energy and time. Managing your anxiety, around the distressing, obsessive thoughts has  become significant enough that you find it impairing:

• Your normal daily routine, 

• Your ability to arrive to work on time

• Your ability to focus at work

• Your ability to complete a task in a timely manner  due to it needing to be “just right” or “perfect”

• Your satisfaction with your relationship

• Building trust with your partner or friends

• The ability to socialize or interact with family, friends, colleagues or society in general.

  Let’s help your OCD part learn to ease up, relax and trust your ability to manage life’s distress more!