OCD is the abbreviation for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is a mental health condition that affects people of all ages and backgrounds. It is characterized by two main components: obsessions (the ‘O’ of OCD) and compulsions (the “C” of OCD). Compulsions are often referred to as rituals.  Personally, I like to stick to compulsions to separate it from usual day to day to day rituals we all engage in, such as, celebrating birthdays in a particular way or family traditions and so on.  I think of OCD as an unhelpful way of managing anxiety.

Anxiety that might be caused by thoughts about, for example, leaving the gas on, feeling uncomfortable that things have been moved from their usual place, that there is some kind of invisible contamination on something and the urge to clean it or throw it away, wondering about doing something terrible that is not in keeping with who you are and or having thoughts that you think you should not have.

Have you felt an urge or impulse to do something you don’t really want to.  Had a “bad” thought you needed to make ‘safe’ or cancel out somehow? These are, what we call, intrusive thoughts. They intrude into your consciousness and interrupt what you were thinking about.  They cause such intense disruption they interfere with your everyday life as you find it impossible to not pay attention to them.  They are truly obsessive when they cause no enjoyment and nothing but distress and anxiety.