Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that is characterised by obsessions (intrusive thoughts or images) and compulsions (actions or rituals).
OCD is a common anxiety disorder and can cause a lot of distress and impairment for sufferers.
OCD affects people of all ages, across the lifespan – from young children all the way through to the elderly.
OCD, like many other anxiety disorders and mental health issues, is a treatable condition.
Clinical Psychologists are trained and have special skills to help sufferers to cope with, and recover from, OCD.
Sometimes, people with OCD can benefit from medication, in addition to therapy.
Please reach out to us if you need assistance. In the meantime, below is some brief information about obsessions and compulsions:
Obsessions are intrusive, unwelcome, and persistent thoughts AND/OR images that are accompanied by feelings of anxiety, discomfort or disgust.
Common themes for obsessions are:
- fear of contamination, germs or dirt
- doubt about whether you have done something properly eg. turning the stove off or locking the door properly
- fear of harm to self or others
- aggressive or sexual thoughts
- images of disasters
- fear of losing of control
- a need for exactness or symmetry
Many OCD sufferers also engage in rituals or compulsions. Compulsions are defined as persistent needs or urges to perform certain behaviours in order to reduce anxiety or discomfort. There is often no pleasure in carrying out the rituals, only temporary relief from the discomfort cause by the obsession. Compulsions tend to be very time consuming.
Some examples of compulsive behaviours are listed below:
- washing things over and over eg. your hands or cutlery
- checking things repeatedly eg. the stove is turned off or the door is locked
- ordering or arranging things
- having to do things in a certain order eg. dressing or locking the door
- doing something a certain number of times eg. tapping the table 4 times
- hoarding or collecting things
Often the compulsions are associated with the obsession. For example, intrusive thoughts about contamination may lead the sufferer to engage in washing rituals. For other people, there is no apparent connection between the obsession and the compulsion, for example, not stepping on cracks in the sidewalk in order to prevent family members being harmed.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you would like some help. To enquire about an appointment at Moving Forward Clinical Psychologists, please complete our Online Contact Form, and a member of our team will be in touch shortly. Alternatively, please call us on 1300 133 013. Our experienced Clinical Psychologists are located in Terrigal (10 minutes from Erina) on the beautiful NSW Central Coast. We are also available Australia wide, via Telehealth.
You may also like to look at this website (OCD Australia) – https://www.ocdaus.org/