What is OCD and is it just about being tidy?

OCD is continuously stereotyped through our society, certain quirks and traits regarding cleanliness, are being associated to a disorder which is extremely distressing for those which have it.

Although many of us like to keep our houses clean and tidy, it is something we enjoy and brings us joy. The difference here is that the OCD sufferer with a contamination theme will not enjoy the process of cleaning but will feel like they NEED to do it. 

Before we break down what OCD is not, lets first touch on what the disorder actually is.

As highlighted by the highly reputable and reliable OCD care provider, NOCD, the disorder is a chronic mental health condition in which a person experiences recurrent and unwanted thoughts, urges, feelings, sensations or images that cause distress.

When receiving a diagnosis, the thoughts and compulsions should cause distress and must take up a significant part of your time.

According to OCD-UK, for a diagnosis of OCD, intrusive thoughts and the compulsions that follows must be present for two weeks before you will receive your diagnosis.

So, what are intrusive thoughts?

Intrusive thoughts are exactly how they sound, they are unexpected thoughts that can intrude on your everyday activities.  They can be distressing due to the nature of what pops into our minds.

Intrusive thoughts may not always come in as a direct thought. It may also be noticed as a feeling, a sensation, voices or images and many more.

However, intrusive thoughts are very common and happen to pretty much everyone. 

Although every person will experience intrusive thoughts, the way we react is what defines whether we are in OCD proximity.

Here are some common examples of intrusive thoughts and the themes that obtain them, that people may struggle with:

• Contamination OCD– What if I catch aids from the toilet seat? What if the person I shook hands with has a contagious disease? (What if I pass this on to my grandma and she dies?)
  
• Relationship OCD– I can’t stop thinking about a past relationship, does this mean I don’t love my current partner? What if I am never going to be in a relationship, does this mean I’m doomed to be single forever?
  
• Harm OCD– Every time I see a knife I think “what if I use this on my mother”, does this mean I am a bad person? What if I ran someone when I use my car today? – because I thought this, does it mean it will happen?
  
• Real event OCD? Did I bully that kid in high school- Does that mean I am a bad person? I remember something from when I was younger and I’m scared it means I’m an awful person- should I confess?
  
  

What are the common compulsions?

• Confessing
• Reassurance seeking (many ways of doing this)
• Google searching 
• Repeated checking (whether it be checking your body for cancer, or checking if you turned off the stove)
• Repeated actions – done so to reduce anxiety
• Anxiety reduction methods
• Praying or meditational practises
• Avoidance
• Almost anything can be used as a compulsion 
  
  

OCD remains to this day widely misinterpreted even with around 1 in 40 people of the global population estimated to have the disorder. Furthering the stereotypes it has become commonly accepted to label behavioural aspects to a disorder which is so misunderstood.

Despite the condition being chronic, many people can recover and reach a state where OCD does not affect their everyday life and decisions.

The irony of OCD

The problem comes with the irony of the disorder itself; it won’t let you rest unless you are 100% sure about something. Here lies the issue; how can one ever be 100% certain?

OCD is sneaky, you may feel like you are doing the right thing, that without you and your brain how would the world survive? The thing is, that our intentions with OCD are almost always in the right place. 

How can someone live not knowing whether their family will die tomorrow? How can someone live with themselves knowing they might be responsible for a car crash which could kill others? 

I understand. Your fears and doubts are not the main issue when it comes to OCD and in pretty much every case have some logic behind them. What doesn’t carry logic is the compulsions and anxiety reducing exercises we engage in when trying to rid ourselves of this.

The problem here lies in our misinterpretation of our thoughts and beliefs, an exaggerated sense of responsibility and an inability to accept uncertainty.

Now let’s talk about what OCD is not. OCD is not a quirk or something that we enjoy, it is a very distressing and anxiety-inducing disorder which produces compulsions in reaction to an intrusive thought. 

What are the common misconceptions of OCD?

• “OCD is just about being clean”– just because you want to keep a home tidy and clean does not mean you have OCD. The disorder attacks way more than preferences and more often than not OCD sufferers are never content with the efforts they make.
  
• “OCD will go away on its own” – OCD does not tend to go away with time or if the sufferers “try harder” to get rid of it. 
  
  

Let’s get recovered:

Living with OCD can be hard, it’s difficult to imagine living a normal life away from our thoughts. Sometimes you may wish you lived in someone else’s head or reflect to a time where these thoughts were not affecting your everyday life. 

I get it- OCD sucks it can pull you into its cycles so quickly sometimes before you even realise what’s going on.

But what if I told you, it could get so much better. You will finally live a life without the torment and the constant doubt or anxiety. 

You can live a life better than the one you were living before your diagnosis; your mentality will get so much stronger and your relationships will become deeper.

The gold standard treatment for OCD is Exposure and Response prevention (ERP). I will go through this further, but the basis of ERP entails confronting your fears and responding in a different way and resisting compulsions. This may mean in most cases allowing the anxiety to subside whilst not trying to alleviate it.

Through ERP we will learn that we are strong enough to handle our fears. We are strong enough to handle doubt and uncertainty, and that without interference our brain will learn that we can handle anything.

Sometimes we must teach ourselves to not give a shi*. We don’t care about the drivel our brain wants to throw our way and in fact lets encourage it. Let’s teach our brains that it can throw anything our way because we know that we can handle it.

We will soon realise the problem lies not in figuring out the meaning behind our thoughts but in our inability to handle uncertainty and discomfort.