Psychological health

OCD Meaning, Symptoms and Causes

OCD meaning (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) it is mainly a mental health condition characterized by anxiety disorders and behavioral patterns that may be disabling.

OCD Meaning 

It is mostly like a mental trap that is associated with repetitive thoughts that might be extremely suffocating.

National Institute of Mental Health reports showed that 2% of the population suffers from OCD.

This percentage is even more than those who suffer from any other mental disorders like schizophrenia.

OCD Meaning 

OCD is one of the most disabling mental disorders that psychologists might have encountered.

Psychologists believe that a neurobiological predisposition and environmental factors may be the causes of the repetitive thoughts and compulsive patterns.

OCD Main Symptoms

The key symptoms of OCD are obsessions and compulsions; nonetheless, these symptoms vary colossally from person to another.

Hereby, we will tackle most of these symptoms in order to go in depth into this disorder.

First of all, the Obsessions;

1) worry about germs
2) fear of contamination, illness, or harm
3) thoughts about hurting yourself or other people
4) fixation on having things around you placed in a certain way
5) intrusive sexual or violent images
6) magical thinking, or believing your thoughts have the power to harm other people
7) persistent worries about religion or not living up to religious standards

The thing about this OCD if you have it, you will not have the ability to push away these thoughts once they are present in your mind.
Instead, you may compulsively think of some rituals to reduce stress or prevent harm.

Compulsions are variable too as follows:

1) praying or repeating certain phrases over and over
2) counting to a certain number, sometimes a specific number of times
3) collecting or hoarding items
4) washing hands or body parts over and over
5) cleaning rooms and items, sometimes multiple times or for several hours of the day
6) checking locks, burners, electrical outlets more than once or twice, or in a specific pattern
7) touching objects or certain parts of your body in a specific pattern
8) organizing things in a symmetrical or specific way

If you will able to resist these compulsions, you will awfully feel anxious as if there is something urgent left urging you to check and do it.

The most suffocating thing about these compulsions is that you might feel as if you are in an infinite loop.

You may do the same action more than one time, moreover, that may let you feel that you live a redundant life.

There are many more signs that might be a warning to having OCD, therefore let us find out more about them.

Signs that may be symptoms of OCD



1) It takes longer to do daily tasks because of the time spent on compulsive rituals.
2) You often need reassurance from others to help decrease worry or fear.
3) You become extremely upset or worried about small deviations from usual behaviors or rituals.
4) You cannot stop performing rituals or behaviors, even if you realize they are excessive.
5) You have trouble sleeping or eating because of obsessions, compulsions, or related distress.
6) You begin to avoid anything that might trigger an obsessive thought or compulsion.

Some great examples of OCD are counting, religious fear and intrusive thoughts.
These thoughts most likely make you feel bad about yourself.

As for counting, you may believe that something tragic will happen to someone you love unless you count to a certain number before sleep.

The intrusive sexual thoughts may let you feel that you are a bad person just for having them. Therefore, you may think you would act upon them and start avoiding other people.

You may also feel that you made something sinful; moreover, you may feel the urge to pray more in order to feel that God forgave you.

OCD Causes

Psychologists cannot tell what may cause a person to have OCD; nevertheless, they say that it might be because of some unusual function in some parts of the brain.

They say that it is partially associated with biological factors including brain chemistry.

You might have OCD, if you have a first-degree relative that has it as well; however, Psychologists say that they did not prove that genes play a role in this disorder yet.

The risk may escalate if you went through trauma or any significant stress.

Moreover, you should get psychological help if any of these symptoms proven to exist.

reference: OCD

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