Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder , not to be confused with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), is a type of mental disorder that characterizes people whose desire to make all the pieces of their lives fit together has been taken to the extreme. In some ways, it can be said that the problem lies in a kind of vital perfectionism pushed to its limits.

Normally, these patients feel the need to have total control over how the events in their life are going, and this causes them to experience a lot of anxiety and distress every time the plans do not go as planned, which happens very often.

Next we will see what are the symptoms, the causes and the main treatments proposed for Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.

What is this disorder?

The concept of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is a diagnostic category used in manuals such as DSM-IV that is used to define what happens in a type of person whose perfectionism and need for control over their own lives have become so accentuated that it causes them much discomfort and deteriorates their quality of life.

People with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder experience an obsession with doing things the way they should be done, without experiencing dissonance between their plans and what is happening in reality.

This disorder belongs to the category of Cluster C Personality Disorders (anxiety disorders) , together with Avoidance Personality Disorder and Dependency Personality Disorder.

Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

The diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder , like that of any other mental disorder, should always be made by duly accredited mental health professionals, and by means of personalised evaluation on a case-by-case basis. However, as a guide, this list of symptoms can be used to help detect this disorder.

The main symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder are the following.

1. Extreme concern for details

This manifests itself in virtually every aspect of life. For example, the person plans very precise schedules that cover everything that should happen throughout the day, creates rules for all kinds of social events, decorates spaces according to very clear rules, etc. This attention to detail even overshadows the main purpose of the actions.

2. Rejection of the possibility of delegating tasks

People with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder tend to view the idea of delegating tasks to other people in a negative light, since they distrust their ability or willingness to follow instructions exactly and rules about how they should do things.

3. Constant search for productive activities

Another of the symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is the tendency to displace leisure and rest time to occupy it with tasks that are considered productive and that have a clear beginning, a series of intermediate steps and an end. This generates a great deal of exhaustion and increases stress levels.

4. Extreme ethical rigidity

In personal life, the morality of people with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is so rigid that it focuses more on the formal aspects of what is considered good and bad than on an in-depth analysis of the ethical implications of one action or another.

5. Extreme perfectionism

The need to make everything go as planned makes many tasks take too long , which causes them to overlap with other plans. This mismatch of schedules creates intense discomfort.

6. Tendency to accumulate

This type of diagnosis is associated with a tendency towards saving and accumulation ; very little money is spent and objects whose future usefulness is unclear are kept. This has to do with the need to know that one has the means to face future problems and with the extreme need for stability.

7. Stubbornness

Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder hardly change their minds , as their belief system is rigid and offers stability.

Differential diagnosis: similar disorders

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder can be confused with other disorders that do not belong to personality disorders. The main ones are Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorders. However, there are certain differences that allow us to distinguish them.

TOC

In Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder , unlike what occurs in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder , there is no awareness of having a disorder related to perfectionism and rigidity, since this psychological characteristic has been left related to one’s personality and identity.

This makes this kind of patient decide not to go to therapy to treat this problem, but to try to solve the problems derived from the symptoms, such as anxiety and tiredness derived from the implementation of their habits.

In contrast, in OCD, obsessions are not perceived as part of one’s identity . Furthermore, in this disorder the compulsions are of a specific type, and rigidity does not permeate all aspects of one’s life.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

People who present the symptoms associated with Asperger’s Syndrome , nowadays subsumed in the category of Autism Spectrum Disorders, differ from those who experience COPD in their difficulties in carrying out mental processes related to the theory of mind (such as reading between the lines, detecting sarcasm, etc.) and in their poor social skills, mainly.

Causes

As with all personality disorders, the specific causes of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder are not clear, since it is a complex and multicausal psychological phenomenon , based on variable and constantly changing psychosocial mechanisms that, however, generate very stable and persistent symptoms over time.

The most accepted hypothesis about the causes of COPD is based on the biopsychosocial model, so it is assumed that its origin has to do with an interrelationship between biological and social elements and the type of learning that has been internalized by the person.

Treatments

In order to alleviate the harmful symptoms of COPD it is recommended to attend psychotherapy sessions . Cognitive behavioural therapy can help to modify habits and thought patterns based on extreme rigidity, to detect the moments when perfectionism is detracting from quality of life and to introduce more time for leisure and rest into daily life.

In some cases, medical personnel may recommend and prescribe psychotropic drugs to be used in a controlled manner and only under medical supervision. In this regard, the use of a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been shown to be effective in many cases if its use is accompanied by psychotherapy.