OCD Signs and Symptoms

By Alex Groberman, Tue, May 24, 2011

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a serious mental condition that forces sufferers to submit to unwanted and undesired thoughts and compulsions. This can get so excessive and frantic at some points that the person dealing with OCD tends to drastically alter the way they live their lives. While there is no cure for OCD, many treatment options are available for anyone who shows the signs and symptoms that relate to this disorder.

Generally speaking, OCD is characterized by uncontrollable thoughts that lead to repetitive, ritualized behaviors that the sufferer feels that are powerless to stop.
Examples of this type of behavior include, but aren’t limited to: repeatedly checking the stove, constantly washing hands or incessant cleaning.

Obsessions, specifically, are unstoppable thoughts and impulses that occur in a sufferer’s mind non-stop. The person may not want to see those images and thoughts in their mind, and may be distracted and/or disturbed by them, but remains powerless to stop them.

Compulsions, on the other hand, are behaviors or rituals that the OCD sufferer feels as though they have to perform repeatedly. Again, continuous cleaning, hoarding and counting are all the end result of these.

The main groups which people dealing with OCD tend to suffer from include: washers, checkers, doubters, sinners, counters, arrangers and hoarders. While having both obsessions and compulsions is typically the case with OCD sufferers, it is possible to only have one or the other.

Having some of these symptoms and signs is not a surefire indicator that one is suffering from OCD. Rather, it just means that the person would be best served getting themselves checked out by a properly trained mental health professional. As with any other mental disorder, the key to fighting OCD is learning all there is to know about the disorder, and utilizing the treatment option that best serves the needs of the sufferer.

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