What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

OCD is an anxiety disorder that is a related combination of obsessions and compulsive behaviors. These combined obsessions and compulsions reach a state of severity that they interfere with daily living. To better understand OCD, we’ll break down obsession and compulsion.

An obsession with OCD is an unwanted but persistent fear, intrusive thought, mental image, or fear of committing an impulse. These obsessions will usually get in the way of what you were doing and trying to focus on. It’s possible to believe that you are only experiencing obsessions when you have OCD, which you might not even notice because to you, you’re not thinking about specific kinds of thought too much, but maybe they are taking up a considerable amount of time and even interrupting what you should be concentrating on (i.e. school, work, family/friend relationships).

Types of OCD will vary from person to person. These subtypes of OCD are based on the types of obsessive thoughts, fears, or obsessional triggers someone is experiencing. There are many subtypes of OCD. A few example of the different subtypes include the following types:

  • Violent / Harm
  • Sexual
  • Emotional or Physical Contamination
  • Relational
  • Sensorimotor
  • Perfectionism

If you know that you have OCD and are interested in determining which type of OCD, we recommend taking the Types of OCD Test.