Have you ever returned repeatedly to see if the door to the house is properly closed, ordered by size and color everything around you, or washed your hands very often? Well, these are some possible behaviors in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) . But… don’t panic! Here’s what this particular disorder is all about, and we’ll go over some tips on whether you have it or not.

Basic diagnostic criteria for OCD

For a person to be diagnosed with OCD , he or she has to meet some criteria reviewed by the health professional. The first is that he or she must have obsessions, compulsions, or both. But… What is an obsession and what is a compulsion?

Obsessions are recurring thoughts, impulses or images that are characterized as intrusive and unwanted. This causes the person anxiety and discomfort. They must be egodistonic, i.e. go against one’s personality. For example, it happens to a person characterized by being calm, kind and empathetic who has intrusive thoughts of harming someone. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors and/or mental acts performed in order to prevent or lessen the anxiety and discomfort caused by the obsessions. Performing them provides relief, and when they are not performed, anxiety increases.

Obsessions and/or compulsions require a lot of time and can cause clinical discomfort or deterioration in various environments in which the person is immersed (work, study, family). Great care must be taken not to confuse their symptoms with side effects of drugs, illness or other disorders. The onset of this disorder is more common in adulthood and is more frequent in women.

Degrees of introspection

There are varying degrees of introspection in TOC . That is, the degree to which people believe that what is happening in their intrusive thoughts will pass if a certain repetitive behavior is not performed. The person will believe that the intrusive thoughts are likely to occur (obsession) if he or she doesn’t do the iterative behavior (compulsion).

For example, the person who locks all the doors and windows and goes to check many times that they are properly set, because he believes that if he does not do that he could die. These behaviours become constant rituals , given that one has the feeling that if one does not carry out these acts, the obsession will become a material reality.

What you should know

Now you can breathe easy! Or not. You now have all the basic information you need to know whether or not your repetitive behaviors are OCD.

If you perform or have performed repeated behaviours you can do the exercise of analyse the objective of those behaviours . That’s the key to clear up your doubt about whether or not you have OCD. Checking the door a lot to make sure it’s closed, always walking on the left side, always putting your glasses on, biting your lips every time, organizing objects by size and color, or washing your hands frequently are behaviors that by themselves don’t say much. It is essential to identify whether these acts seek or aim to eradicate or diminish some obsession.

Also, be careful not to confuse these with obsessive-compulsive personality traits or symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which are topics for another article.

Because of the effectiveness of treating OCD when it’s just emerging, it’s important that you see a mental health professional if you observe any intrusive thinking and/or repetitive mental behavior or acts, because only then can a definitive diagnosis be made.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association, et al. DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Madrid