An estimated 1.6% to 2.3% of people in the United States have obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD, a condition that can make working, attending school and completing daily living tasks difficult. Fortunately, treatments are available for OCD that can help people manage symptoms and improve their quality of life. The first step in getting help is recognizing common OCD warning signs in yourself or a loved one.
What Is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental health disorder that causes someone to experience obsessions and demonstrate compulsions. Obsessions are uncontrollable urges, thoughts or mental images that break through everyday thinking patterns, often causing anxiety and stress. Compulsions are uncontrollable behaviors a person exhibits, usually in response to an obsession.
Researchers continue to study what causes OCD to occur in some people but not in others. Although the exact cause isn’t fully understood, research has led to the discovery of OCD risk factors, including:
- Genetics. OCD can run in families. If a close relative has OCD, you’re more likely to develop the condition yourself.
- Biology. While more research is necessary to fully understand how biology impacts the onset of OCD, people with the condition do often display differences in the parts of the brain responsible for regulating emotions and controlling behaviors.
- Personal history. Individuals who experienced childhood trauma appear to be at an increased risk for OCD.
- Mental health. Children with depression and anxiety may be more likely to develop OCD as adults.
OCD Warning Signs and Symptoms
Early signs of OCD often develop during late childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. OCD warning signs include having one or more obsessions. Some common obsessions include:
- Germs and illness
- Forgetting information or losing things
- Taboo topics related to sexuality, religion or morality
- Symmetry and ordering
Often, people with OCD recognize obsessive thoughts as absurd or improbable but can’t succeed in quieting them. The inability to stop obsessive thinking can lead to anxiety.
In addition to obsessions, most people with OCD also display compulsive behaviors, such as:
- Excessive cleaning
- Overly frequent handwashing
- Arranging items in meticulous ways
- Counting objects
- Repeating words or phrases silently
- Experiencing tics or repetitive motions
Acting on compulsions usually doesn’t give a person with OCD pleasure. However, carrying out compulsions may temporarily relieve anxiety related to obsessions.
When evaluating someone for the warning signs of OCD, mental health care providers often consider how frequently obsessions and compulsions occur and what effect they have on the person’s everyday life. Often, people with OCD spend 1 hour or more each day thinking of obsessions and/or acting on compulsions, and their symptoms make it difficult for them to carry out everyday activities without interruption.
OCD vs. Common Emotions
When determining if you or a loved one shows OCD warning signs, it’s important not to mistake common emotions for symptoms of the disorder. The warning signs of OCD are different from:
- Worry. Everyone worries about things from time to time, but in the case of OCD, worries are often irrational and persist for long periods of time.
- Fear. It’s natural to feel fear about difficult circumstances, threats or unfamiliar things. Persistent fear of something that’s so intense you can’t stop thinking about it for long periods of time, or that gives you the overwhelming urge to perform a behavior, may be a warning sign of OCD.
- Distress. Intrusive thoughts can happen to anyone and are often distressing. However, ordinary distress related to unwanted thoughts is generally brief, as is the intrusive thought itself. In people with OCD, intrusive thoughts and the resulting distress are persistent.
Conditions That Are Similar to OCD
Because there’s no diagnostic test for the condition, mental health care providers learn how to tell if someone has OCD by considering individual symptoms. Differential diagnosis is an important part of the process and refers to ruling out the possibility of a person having other conditions that cause similar symptoms to common OCD warning signs. Some conditions that are similar to OCD include the following.
Depression
Depression is a mental health disorder that causes people to experience persistent feelings of sadness, worry and hopelessness. People with depression may have obsessive thoughts. For example, they may repeatedly think of self-harm or that they are worthless. As in OCD, these obsessive thoughts are intrusive or irrational. However, a person with depression usually doesn’t see them this way and instead accepts them as truth, while a person with OCD often won’t.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) involves persistent fear and worry. People with GAD often experience these feelings for no discernible reason. OCD can also cause anxiety; however, the fear and worry usually have a direct cause in the form of obsessive thinking.
Hypochondriasis
Hypochondriasis is an obsession with having an undiagnosed medical disorder. People with the condition often fear that they have a disease and seek out medical care for minor discomforts. Obsessions with germs and illness can also occur with OCD. They may feel compelled to carry out compulsions, such as handwashing, many times per day as a result.
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a personality disorder marked by holding strict beliefs and feeling the need to control people, situations and the environment in accordance with them. OCD is usually self-focused and doesn’t cause a desire to exert control over other people. People with OCPD are more likely to become hyperfocused on order, perfection and executing specific tasks, while people with OCD experience troubling, unwanted thoughts.
Next Steps to Take
If you or someone you love is experiencing warning signs of OCD, you have somewhere to turn. Trained counselors at the Mental Health Hotline are available to help 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Our counselors can help you connect with mental health care providers in your area so you or your loved one can get evaluated for OCD and start benefiting from a personalized treatment plan. Reach out to us today.
