What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Contamination

• Body fluids (examples: urine, feces)
• Germs/disease (examples: herpes, HIV)
• Environmental contaminants (examples: asbestos, radiation)
• Household chemicals (examples: cleaners, solvents)
• Dirt

Losing Control

• Fear of acting on an impulse to harm oneself
• Fear of acting on an impulse to harm others
• Fear of violent or horrific images in one’s mind
• Fear of blurting out obscenities or insults
• Fear of stealing things

Harm

• Fear of being responsible for something terrible happening (examples: fire, burglary)
• Fear of harming others because of not being careful enough (example: dropping something on the ground that might cause someone to slip and hurt him/herself)

Obsessions Related to Perfectionism

• Concern about evenness or exactness
• Concern with a need to know or remember
• Fear of losing or forgetting important information when throwing something out
• Inability to decide whether to keep or to discard things
• Fear of losing things

Unwanted Sexual Thoughts

• Forbidden or perverse sexual thoughts or images
• Forbidden or perverse sexual impulses about others
• Sexual obsessions that involve children or incest
• Obsessions about aggressive sexual behavior towards others

Religious Obsessions (Scrupulosity)

• Concern with offending God, or concern about blasphemy
• Excessive concern with right/wrong or morality

Other Obsessions

• Obsessions about one’s sexual orientation.
• Concern with getting a physical illness or disease (not by contamination, e.g. cancer)
• Superstitious ideas about lucky/unlucky numbers certain colors

Washing and Cleaning

• Washing hands excessively or in a certain way
• Excessive showering, bathing, tooth-brushing, grooming ,or toilet routines
• Cleaning household items or other objects excessively
• Doing other things to prevent or remove contact with contaminants

Checking

• Checking that you did not/will not harm others
• Checking that you did not/will not harm yourself
• Checking that nothing terrible happened
• Checking that you did not make a mistake
• Checking some parts of your physical condition or body

Repeating

• Rereading or rewriting
• Repeating routine activities (examples: going in or out doors, getting up or down from chairs)
• Repeating body movements (example: tapping, touching, blinking)
• Repeating activities in “multiples” (examples: doing a task three times because three is a “good,” “right,” “safe” number)

Mental Compulsions

• Mental review of events to prevent harm (to oneself others, to prevent terrible consequences)
• Praying to prevent harm (to oneself others, to prevent terrible consequences)
• Counting while performing a task to end on a “good,” “right,” or “safe” number
• “Cancelling” or “Undoing” (example: replacing a “bad” word with a “good” word to cancel it out)

Other Compulsions

• Putting things in order or arranging things until it “feels right”
• Telling asking or confessing to get reassurance
• Avoiding situations that might trigger your obsessions