People struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are often misdiagnosed as having other psychological conditions. One of the most common misdiagnoses for this population is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
Often, OCD is confused with being a perfectionist. And while OCD can certainly be driven by perfectionism, it's not the same. Nor is it perfectionism taken to the extreme.
These include the obsessive preoccupations and repetitive behaviors found in body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, Tourette syndrome, Parkinson's disease, catatonia, autism, and in some individuals with eating disorders (eg, anorexia nervosa).
Compulsive behaviours seen in, compulsive liars, shoppers, gamblers or sexaholics are other examples of something that are not part of OCD, they are more likely to be addictive problems and are considered to be Impulse Control Disorders.
The more you attempt to either push away or to "understand" the thought, the "stickier" the thought becomes. When the thought feels uncontrollable and "sticky" and the efforts to get rid of it don't bring a lasting relief, this may be a sign that your OCD got you on the hook again.
False Memory OCD refers to a cluster of OCD presentations wherein the sufferer becomes concerned about a thought that appears to relate to a past event. The event can be something that actually happened (but over which there is some confusion) or it can be something completely fabricated by the mind.
For most of us, these thoughts seem “messed up” or funny, because they're so out of place. But for someone with OCD, these disturbing thoughts might feel like real possibilities — even if that person knows their thoughts are probably irrational.
Body hyperawareness, emotional contamination, perfectionism, obsession with morality, and fear of harming others are all rare and unusual branches of the main disorder of OCD.
Hyperawareness or Sensorimotor OCD is where a significant amount of attention is spent thinking about body functions or sensations. Often these sessions are unconscious but with this type of OCD the brain gets stuck focusing on them.
If you are experiencing repetitive, unwanted thoughts, or feel compelled to carry out certain behaviours, such as checking for perceived danger or organising items in a set way, it may be that you are suffering from OCD.
In fact, a reported 90 percent of people with OCD have comorbid disorders such as: Depression and other mood disorders. Anxiety disorders. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
While anxiety disorders are typically characterized by excessive worry, OCD is marked by unwanted thoughts that lead to compulsive mental or physical reactions. A person with an anxiety disorder will experience excessive worry, but not engage in compulsive behavior to reduce their anxiety.
Thesaurus.com offers up all of these non-ableist synonyms to use instead: pedantic. precise. fastidious.
1 Schizophrenia and OCD are entirely independent of each other, both in their cause and symptoms, but share characteristics that place some individuals at higher risk of both.
While perhaps less common, a person with ADHD may be misdiagnosed with OCD. A person may develop sophisticated compensatory strategies to offset their attention and focus difficulties. For example, a person may become obsessively particular about their external environment (to manage focus issues).
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is generally believed to follow a chronic waxing and waning course. The onset of illness has a bimodal peak – in early adolescence and in early adulthood. Consultation and initiation of treatment are often delayed for several years.
Although most adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing doesn't make sense, some adults and most children may not realize that their behavior is out of the ordinary. Parents or teachers typically recognize OCD symptoms in children.
Somatic OCD is a subset of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in which people hyper-focus on neutral physical stimuli. For instance, a person may hyper-focus on their blinking and fear that they would never be able to stop noticing their blinking.
“OCD symptoms can intensify during times of stress or when you feel like life is getting out of control.” People with OCD regularly experience extreme, yet unnecessary, worry. Obsessive and uncontrollable thoughts can interfere with life to the point of serious disruption.
The World Health Organization ranks OCD as one of the 10 most handicapping conditions by lost income and decreased quality of life.
These would include intrusive unpleasant thoughts, unceasing doubt, guilt fears of being insane, and crushing anxiety.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has two main parts: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwelcome thoughts, images, urges, worries or doubts that repeatedly appear in your mind. They can make you feel very anxious (although some people describe it as 'mental discomfort' rather than anxiety).
OCD attacks the very things that we value and care the most about. It attacks the core of our identities. That's what makes it so compelling. People who do not live with OCD can have the very same thoughts, images, and urges, and yet they are mostly unphased by them.