Traits and Symptoms of OCD

The most common symptoms of OCD revolve around:

Dirt and Contamination

• Groundless fears of contracting a dreadful illness
• Intense worry of spreading germs or illness to others
• Excessive worry over dirt and germs, including environmental contaminants
• Excessive hand-washing, showering, bathing, or cleaning rituals
• The overwhelming feeling certain household items (clothes, dishes, etc.) are contaminated and cannot ever be clean enough
• Feelings of disgust or aversion about bodily waste and secretions

A Need for Order or Symmetry

• A high need to align objects “just so”
• The need to keep doing something until one gets it “just right
• Unusual concerns about the neatness of one’s personal appearance or one’s environment

Hoarding

• Keeping useless trash (such as old newspapers or items rescued from trash cans)
• Accumulating useless objects
• An inability to throw out things because they may be needed sometime

Sexual Content

• Fear of molesting a child, despite no desire to do so
• Unwanted, inappropriate and unacceptable sexual thoughts
• Fears of being homosexual

Repetitive Rituals

• Rewording sentences until they make sense or feel right
• Rewriting words or phrases
• Repeating routine activities for no logical reason
• Repeating questions over and over (verbally or in thought)

Checking

• Having difficulty trusting doors are closed or locked
• Habitual checking to make sure appliances or water is turned off
• Constant checking and rechecking for mistakes
• The need to touch, tap or rub certain objects repeatedly
• Checking to no one has not has been harmed. Feeling overly responsible for the well being of others

Religious Obsessions (Scrupulosity)

• Upsetting blasphemous or sacrilegious thoughts
• Repeating prayers to make a bad thought go away
• Extreme concerns about morality and right or wrong
• High need to confess things

Aggressiveness

• A fear of having hurt someone or caused some fatal tragedy (such as an accident)
• Consistent obtrusive images of violence
• A fear of acting out a violent thought (such as stabbing someone)

Food and Weight

• Overly concerned about one’s weight
• Irrational fears that some foods are bad or must be avoided
• Preoccupied with food
• Rituals involving food such as not letting foods touch each other

Others

• Excessive belief certain numbers, objects or people are lucky or unlucky
• Superstitious rituals to counter negative thoughts or consequences
• A feeling of dread if some arbitrary act is not performed
• An overwhelming need to tell information or to ask someone something
• Asking for constant reassurance

Having obsessions or symptoms are not on the list above, it does not mean the person is strange or weird. This is not a comprehensive list of all OCD symptoms, since the human mind can obsess on virtually anything.

Most people become hyper aware of the symptoms they exhibit and since it is where their mind is focused, they believe the symptoms are the real problem. In actuality. the underlining issues supporting the OCD and how the mind processes certain thought patterns is what needs to change.

There are many facts and statistic on OCD, yet if you experience these or other symptoms of OCD, help is available to work through these tendencies and resolve the real issues.