At first glance, autism and OCD appear to have little in common. Yet clinicians and researchers have found an overlap between the two. Studies indicate that up to 84 percent of autistic people have some form of anxiety; as much as 17 percent may specifically have OCD.
ASD and OCD can sometimes have similar symptoms. However, they are different conditions. Research from 2015 found that 17% of people with ASD also have OCD. This is higher than the percentage of people with OCD in the general population.
A Danish study conducted in 2014, later published in PLOS ONE, reported, “people with autism are twice as likely to receive a diagnosis of OCD and people with OCD are four times as likely to also have autism.” According to The OCD Treatment Centre, “Obsessive and ritualistic behaviors are one of the fundamental traits ...
Similarities between autism and OCD. On the surface, OCD and autism can look the same in four key areas of your teenager's behaviors and personality: intrusive thoughts, obsessions, stimming, and difficulty with social interaction.
Autism, ADHD and OCD have common symptoms and are linked by some of the same genes. Yet historically they have been studied as separate disorders. Together, these three neurodevelopmental disorders affect roughly 15 per cent of children and youth.
OCD and autism are often misdiagnosed as one another. This is because the symptoms of both can look similar. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are, in many ways, quite different. OCD is a mental illness, while autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
OCD rituals may resemble repetitive behaviors; however, the function is different (the function is to reduce the distressing thought/fear/anxiety), while for the Autistic, it is more often tied to our sensory processing and is a method of self-soothing (Ruzzano et al., 2015).
The SSRIs most commonly prescribed to autistic people are fluoxetine and sertraline. Sertraline is often the top choice because its side effects are milder than those of other SSRIs and because it has fewer interactions with other drugs.
Some people would consider OCD to be a neurodivergent condition, while others would not. OCD can affect the brain's circuitry, influencing social communication, judgment, planning, and body functioning. If “neurodivergent” simply means having a brain different from the most common brain type, then OCD would qualify.
However, one thing that is clear is that comorbidities, stress, anxiety, and major life changes or circumstances can all play a significant role in how much worse OCD might become. As symptoms increase or intensify, people with OCD may also experience the following: Failure at work and/or school.
While there is no universal definition of "high-functioning autism," it remains an important distinction: ASD can otherwise be missed if a person doesn't have overt signs and symptoms, such as difficulty with communication, inappropriate social interactions, and repetitive or obsessive behaviors.
While cognitive empathy can be lower in people with autism, affective empathy—which is based on instincts and involuntary responses to the emotions of others—can be strong and overwhelming. In fact, newer research suggests that some people with autism may actually feel other people's emotions more intensely.
Disorders Related to OCD. There are a variety of conditions that have obsessive compulsive disorder qualities that are quite similar to OCD such as PANDAS, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hoarding disorder, trichotillomania, compulsive skin picking, hypochondria, and olfactory reference syndrome.
Symptoms fluctuate in severity from time to time, and this fluctuation may be related to the occurrence of stressful events. Because symptoms usually worsen with age, people may have difficulty remembering when OCD began, but can sometimes recall when they first noticed that the symptoms were disrupting their lives.
ADHD and OCD are two mental health conditions that may appear to share some symptoms. However, ADHD is externalizing in nature, affecting how individuals relate to their environment. By contrast, OCD is internalizing in nature, meaning individuals respond to anxiety by turning inward.
One solution is to begin with teaching anger management, social skills, and mindfulness training followed by gradual introduction of Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Treating patients who have OCD comorbid with ASD is difficult, but not impossible.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder in which a person gets caught in an often debilitating cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Research suggests that a high number of people with OCD have vitamin D deficiency.
These symptoms carry a great emotional and social burden on patients as well as their relatives. Indeed, quality of life is significantly impaired in OCD patients, with social and emotional functioning being among the most greatly affected quality of life domains (8).
Many individuals with OCD also experience prominent sensory symptoms, including sensations that things are “not just right,” mental or physical urges, and a feeling of incompleteness (Prado et al., 2008) (see also chapter 9).
About stimming and autism
Stimming – or self-stimulatory behaviour – is repetitive or unusual body movement or noises. Stimming might include: hand and finger mannerisms – for example, finger-flicking and hand-flapping. unusual body movements – for example, rocking back and forth while sitting or standing.
If someone in your family has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), you may be more likely to have a child with ASD. ASD can look very different from person to person, so taking a careful family health history can be important for early diagnosis.