These Things Are Also OCD, They Just Don’t Fit The Stereotype
It’s time we create more awareness around OCD
What do you picture when thinking about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)? Most people will say something like:
- Someone who needs to put everything perfectly in place
- Someone who cleans everything in an obsessive way
- Someone who checks if their door is locked at least 5 times in a ritual manner before leaving the house
While these are all valid (and common) ways in which OCD could manifest, the mental illness can look like so much more.
When it comes to treating OCD, we have a major problem: there is (by far) not enough awareness. OCD carries a huge stereotype and people often use it as a joke (“OMG, you’re so OCD!” — for getting annoyed by something not being organized perfectly). But OCD is not just that.
It would be like saying depression is sleeping a lot.
The lack of awareness leads to the following problems:
- Taboo around disturbing forms of OCD
- People walking around with symptoms of OCD, while not knowing it is OCD, resulting in the wrong treatment (or wrong kind of self-help), or them not seeking treatment at all
What we’re even seeing is that people get diagnosed with anxiety, while they’re actually suffering from OCD. The lack of awareness around OCD leads to therapists misdiagnosing, and patients not knowing how to represent their symptoms (OCD can be quite complicated, after all).
What can OCD look like?
OCD essentially consists of two things:
- There is an imagined/perceived problem that does not correspond with what can be seen in reality (for example: “I don’t know if I’m clean, even though I can’t see that I’m dirty”). This becomes an obsession.
- The imagined problem has to be solved in reality rather than in thoughts (for example: “I will shower three times a day to make sure I’m clean”). This becomes a compulsion.
There are always disturbing, repeated thoughts about the imagined problem. This is because there is uncertainty (“What if I’m dirty?”).
We all have unwanted thoughts to some extent. With OCD, these thoughts take over.
It can look like literally anything, as long as the two components above are present.
This might sound abstract. Here are examples of what OCD can also look like:
- A straight person is plagued by doubt-inducing thoughts about their sexuality and feels the unavoidable need to obsessively check their sexual arousal levels around people of the same sex.
- Someone constantly gets confronted with thoughts and images of terrible situations and has to ritually ensure their safety in any situation.
- Someone is terrified by the idea of dying from a heart attack, resulting in them counting their pulse every time their heartbeat goes up — to make sure their heart is doing okay.
- A person that commutes to work every day gets disturbing thoughts about hitting a person or animal on the road, which makes them double-drive their way to work — to check if they haven’t missed accidentally hitting someone.
- Someone is convinced demons may enter their bedroom if they don’t perform a ‘magic’ ritual before going to bed and after waking up.
Of course, there are many different symptoms that can accompany these situations (anxiety and avoidance, lowered self-esteem, stress).
I’ve seen things like the examples above in practice. These people often feel extremely scared to talk about their condition, for how underrepresented many forms of OCD are.
It’s time we break the stereotype.
If you want to read more on OCD and OCD awareness, I highly recommend exploring the MIND website: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/about-ocd/. They provide very useful information for anyone.
And of course, if you think you might be suffering from OCD or any other type of mental health issues, don’t be afraid to seek help. There will always be people who are there for you and can help you; however challenging things may be.
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