OCD seems to be like living on a tape that constantly plays the same worrying sounds and activities. Your mind tells you that something bad will happen if you do not do things in a certain way. Those thoughts are very sincere and direct, and because of that, it is hard to combat them. Many people who are suffering through the years are thinking they are the only ones who have these kinds of strange ideas or do such actions repeatedly.
However, the truth is that what you feel is not unique, and difficulties like this are happening to millions of people around the world. Also, OCD has many different forms that affect each person in different patterns. The good news is that every kind of OCD is a treatable mental health disorder, and a correct diagnosis is directly linked to better treatment outcomes. Let’s first understand the types of OCD.
Note that the goal of OCD treatment is not the same as totally stopping all the thoughts one does not want to have. What it does mean is that one becomes capable of having these thoughts, but they will no longer control one’s life.
Table of Contents
Common types of OCD
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Cleaning and contamination worries:
This type of OCD revolves around the startle of germs, dirt, sickness, and pollution. People with this type of OCD often worry about becoming sick themselves or the idea of passing it to others. They comply with washing their hands, cleaning their living places, or avoiding going out to spaces that they think are unclean.
If you are experiencing these symptoms, you might:
- Experience panic when germs and getting sick come to mind
- Wash your hands more than others do
- Clean objects until they feel right over and over again
- Not touching some objects (e.g., the handle of public places) or doing certain things (e.g., wearing gloves or sanitizing hands again and again)
- Feel dirty even when you see yourself clean
Remember, expecting to be clean is the ideal of normal and healthy behavior. However, OCD takes this instinct and makes it a destructive force by controlling your life rather than improving it.
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Order and symmetry needs:
In this type of OCD, the whole world around you seems to collapse when one object is turned or misplaced. This is not a minor impulse, like everything has to be neat and in place, but an obsession for perfection, symmetry, and the right position.
If you notice this happening to you, the following might involve you:
- Focus on something else only if everything is in its place
- Need symmetry to feel balanced on both sides (e.g., practice breathing exercise, but noxious about inhale or exhale balance)
- Find items to be the right just after having counted them repeatedly.
- Move things until they get the most perfect configuration of all.
- Afraid that something terrible will happen if things are not arranged in the correct way
Wanting your life to be in balance is absolutely a natural reaction. Simply, your brain is working a bit too hard to create stability and safety for you.
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Disturbing unwanted thoughts:
This subtype of OCD can cause anxiety because the thoughts are about aspects that would seem to oppose all your values. These might be images or ideas of violence, religious beliefs, or those that are against your principles and feel foreign.
Such situations can be of concern to you:
- Accidentally causing harm to someone you love, though you would never actually intend to do so
- Behaving against your beliefs or religious values (e.g., negative intrusive thoughts emerging during prayer)
- The sexual thoughts that you still feel wrong or disturbed by
- Whether you are a good or bad person due to these thoughts
Most of the time, people with this type of OCD completely consume time on checking and re-checking their actions and statements to be sure they have not harmed anyone, inquiring about people around them the whole time, or avoiding certain places that might torment them with their unwanted thoughts.
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Collecting and saving items:
In this type of OCD, the extreme difficulty people have with throwing away things is often a result of their fearing that the items might be required later on. This kind of extreme collecting is not about amassing items for the joy, but it stems from anxiety and fear.
Having such a problem, you might notice:
- Having an acute fear of throwing away anything.
- The fear that you will throw them out by accident, only to find they are really important to you.
- Purchasing multiple copies of items you believe you might need at some point.
- Repeatedly checking through the trash before it can be removed.
- A sense of imbalance when you do not find any of your belongings.
The culture of “precaution” is ingrained in you. Unfortunately, OCD tends to override typical natural capabilities of self-care and focuses on the anxiety that controls one’s life.
Important things to remember:
- OCD is a real medical condition, just like diabetes or asthma.
- People do not choose to have it. It’s not their fault. Their brain just works differently because of this condition.
- Having scary thoughts doesn’t make one a bad person
- Intrusive thoughts don’t mean one will act on them
- OCD can change from one type to another over time
- Many people have more than one type at the same time
Additionally, taking OCD seriously means understanding what happens in the brain. When someone has OCD, the brain gets hooked on what feel like impossible, ‘intrusive, negative thoughts’. In order to deal with the problem, they tend to engage in certain behavioral rituals. Still, it does not last forever as thoughts come again. It becomes a cycle that is tough to solve. This obsessive compulsive act makes their life very difficult in terms of work, attending school, or engaging in family and friends interactions.
Most people feel so ashamed of their thoughts and actions that they feel they have to hide everything from others. Thus, they usually feel lonely. The problem is compounded when friends or family members issue remarks such as “Just stop it” without recognizing that the problem is not that simple.
Help is available!
Learning about OCD types is not about classifying people or at all times making them be seen as unique. The idea is centred on the subject of recognizing that OCD affects a lot of people in many various ways, and thus, there are some types of treatment made available for all cases. Treatment approaches include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that helps change thought patterns
- Exposure therapy that gradually reduces the trigger of the fear response
- Medications that can reduce symptoms
- Other comprehensive treatment plans (e.g., hormone therapy, Supplements, stress management techniques, lifestyle changes, etc.) tailored to individual needs
Also, studies show that when an elderly patient develops OCD, an organic or neurological diagnosis (e.g., frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington’s disease, etc.) should be considered necessary. Therefore, if you notice OCD symptoms in an elderly person, consult a geriatric psychiatrist for a clear understanding, diagnosis, and treatment.
Therefore, if you recognize yourself in one of these OCD types, know that you are not alone. It does not mean you are defective. It does not mean the condition totally dominates your identity. Help is always available. In this tech-savvy world, online platforms like GABA Telepsychiatry offer 24/7 mental healthcare, making expert help more accessible to everyone. So, take the advantage of telehealth to care for your mind always, just as you would any other part of your body (like dental care, eye care, skincare, etc.)