Do you feel like you’re caught in a never-ending cycle of intrusive, unwanted, scary thoughts? Do you find yourself engaging in compulsive behaviors (e.g., checking, washing, asking for reassurance) as a to way make the thoughts go away or experience relief? All of us have intrusive or unwanted thoughts sometimes. But if these thoughts get stuck in your head in a way that makes you feel intense distress and gets in the way of you living your life, you may have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
If you have OCD, you’re not alone. About 2 to 3 million adults and 500,000 children have OCD*. While having OCD can feel scary, disturbing, and out of your control, the good news is that there are proven treatments that can help you feel better.
What are Signs that I have OCD?
There are some common obsessions and compulsions that people with OCD may experience. We all do the behaviors listed under compulsions, but when they become repetitive and time consuming, and when we feel like we have to do them, they become compulsions. If you have OCD, you may have the thought, “If I don’t do something, then something bad might happen and I might lose control.” Below are a list of some typical obsessions and compulsions:
Perfectionism - Fear of failure or making a mistake.
Sexual - Unwanted sexual thoughts of children, relatives, or aggressive sexual behaviors.
Relationship-related - Excessive concern about one’s partner (e.g., fears of infidelity, whether the person is “the one”).
Death/existence - Excessive concern about death, meaning of life, etc.
Violence - Fear of harming self or others, or having intrusive violent images in one’s mind.
Religious/Moral - Fear of doing something immoral, sacrilegious, offensive, or blasphemous.
Identity - Excessive concern about sexual orientation or gender identity.
Responsibility - Fear of being responsible for something horrible happening (e.g., fire, car accident, someone’s death).
Contamination - Fear of coming into contact with contaminants like body fluids, germs, chemicals, etc.
Health - Fear of contracting or being diagnosed with an illness or health issue.
Body-focused - Preoccupation with automatic bodily processes (e.g., breathing) or physical sensations.
Seeking reassurance - Frequently asking others for reassurance to alleviate anxiety or doubt.
Checking behavior - Repeatedly checking things like locks, appliances, or documents to ensure they are correct or safe.
Researching - Excessively looking up information online or in books to confirm or disprove fears and anxieties.
Rewriting or rereading - Constantly rewriting or rereading texts, emails, or notes to ensure they are perfect or free from mistakes.
Cleaning behaviors - Engaging in excessive hand washing, showering, or cleaning to remove perceived contaminants.
Repeating rituals - Performing certain rituals or routines in a specific order or number of times, such as getting ready for bed or leaving the house.
Ordering/Arranging - Compulsively arranging or organizing items in a particular way to feel "just right" or to prevent perceived harm.
Need to tell/Confessing - Feeling an overwhelming need to confess thoughts, actions, or doubts to others, often to alleviate guilt or anxiety.
Need to tap or touch - Feeling compelled to tap or touch objects a certain number of times or in a specific manner to prevent bad things from happening.
Mental replay - mentally replaying an event or experience to seek clarity or relief.
How is OCD Treated?
At Old Town Psychology, we have therapists who specialize in treating OCD using evidence-based approaches. Our therapists typically use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which is the type of treatment that has been found to be the most effective for OCD. This involves:
Exposure. Your therapist will help you confront the thoughts, images, person, place, or situations that trigger the obsessions and make you feel distressed.
Response Prevention. Your therapist will help you change what you normally do when you feel distressed or experience obsessions. This means choosing not to do the compulsive behavior. This will help you learn that you can tolerate distress without engaging in compulsions, even when it feels intense.
Retraining your brain. Over time, you will learn that the intrusive thoughts or images are not putting you in actual danger. This will help you engage in activities or things that you previously avoided.
In addition to treating OCD, our therapists treat related conditions including body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g., skin picking, hair pulling/trichotillomania), tic disorders, hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, misophonia, and emetophobia. While these disorders include some overlapping features with OCD, there are important distinctions that your therapist will support you to understand and manage in treatment.
We will collaborate in treatment to support you to manage your OCD symptoms and engage in meaningful activities.
Next Steps
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an initial consultation, please contact us at (571) 478-9499, via email at info@oldtownpsychology.com, or submit a message below.
We are a 10 minute walk from the King Street Metro station.
Old Town Psychology
1221 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
*https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/who-gets-ocd/#note-63-1
*https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/treatment/meds/#:~:text=About%207%20out%20of%2010,as%20directed%20by%20their%20doctor.
*https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/dont-wait-17-years-get-help-ocd