10 signs you may have obsessive-compulsive disorder _ fox news

Print Close

10 signs you may have obsessive-compulsive disorderBy

Published June 11, 2013 | Health.com

Hooked on hand sanitizer? Closet organized to a T? Quirks like this can usually be chalked up to personality or preference, but insome cases they may point to a more serious issue: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition marked by obsessivethoughts and compulsions that affects about 1 percent of U.S. adults.

How can you tell if OCD tendencies are symptoms that require professional help? There's no easy test, as it's usually a matter ofdegree, said Jeff Szymanski, executive director of the International OCD Foundation, a Boston-based advocacy organization. Still,there are certain patterns that may indicate the full-blown disorder. Here are 10 of the most common.

Hand-washing

Compulsive hand-washing or hand sanitizer use is so prevalent in OCD that "washers" has become a widely accepted category ofOCD patient. The urge commonly stems from a fear of germs (the most common obsession seen in OCD), but it also can be rootedin fears of making others sick or of being impure or immoral.

When to seek help: If you think about germs even after washing your hands, worry that you're not scrubbing well enough, or haveirrational fears about disease (such as getting HIV from a shopping cart), it could be a sign that your hand-washing is compulsive,Szymanski said. Elaborate hand-washing routines—needing to wash five times and get soap under each nail, for example—areanother warning sign.

Health.com: Do You Have an Anxiety Disorder?

Overzealous cleaning

People with OCD who fall into the "washers" category also tend to clean compulsively. As with hand-washing, housecleaning isoften a way of easing germaphobia or feelings of impurity. Although cleaning can help chase these obsessive thoughts away, therelief does not last, and the urge to clean is often even stronger the next time.

When to seek help: If you spend hours a day cleaning, it's almost certainly related to OCD, but it's harder to know if cleaning for anhour a day could be a sign of OCD. "It's really the consequence of stopping," said Dr. Michael Jenike, a psychiatrist atMassachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. "If you don't [clean], you get terribly anxious and fearful."

Checking behavior

So-called checking behaviors—returning three, four, or even 20 times to make sure the oven is off or the front door is locked—arethe most common compulsions associated with OCD, affecting nearly 30 percent of people with the disorder. Like other compulsivebehaviors, checking can be driven by a variety of obsessions, ranging from a fear of getting hurt to deep-seated feelings ofirresponsibility.

When to seek help: It's normal to double-check something once in a while. But if checking interferes with your daily life (by makingyou late for work, say), or becomes a ritual that you can't do without, it could be a sign of OCD. Jenike has patients who arecompelled to check the oven exactly three times, for instance.

Health.com: 12 Ways We Sabotage Our Mental Health

Counting

Some people with OCD perform tasks according to a certain numeric pattern or count to themselves as they do everyday things(such as climbing stairs or cleaning). These behaviors may be driven by superstitions. For instance, a belief that the number sevenis good may lead someone to feel that they'll hurt themselves or someone else if they don't take seven steps at a time.

When to seek help: "It's all about context—does the behavior make sense in your life?" Szymanski says. Counting can be a gooddistraction as you walk to your car or climb the stairs to your office. "If it doesn't bother you or anybody else, you are fine," Jenikesaid. "People come to me if they can't get numbers out of their head."

Organization

People with OCD can take organizing to the level of perfectionism. "It has to feel just right, look just right, be symmetrical, be theright number [of items]," Szymanski says. This fussiness is often driven by obsessions about order and symmetry.

When to seek help: "I'm neat and organized and like things a certain way, but it is out of preference," said Szymanski, author of ThePerfectionist's Handbook. OCD enters in when want to becomes have to: People like Szymanski enjoy a tidy desk and find it

10 signs you may have obsessive-compulsive disorder | Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/11/10-signs-may-have-obsess...

1 of 3 10/15/2015 6:30 PM

Print Close

Home Video Politics U.S. Opinion Entertainment Tech Science Health Travel Lifestyle World Sports Weather

helpful, whereas people with OCD may not necessarily want to organize their desk but feel they must, in order to relieve theiranxiety.

Health.com: Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Fears of violence

Everybody has fleeting thoughts about the possibility of being affected by violence or other misfortunes. The more we try to avoidthoughts like this, the more they pop into our heads, research shows—and this appears to be especially true for people with OCD.They "could be trying harder to suppress these thoughts," Szymanski said, "or they may react more intensely to them because theydeem them as unacceptable."

When to seek help: It's important to recognize that we all have occasional dark thoughts, Szymanski said. But it could be a sign ofOCD if thoughts of getting mugged make you avoid the park, for example, or if concern for your mother's safety spurs you to call herseveral times a day.

Unwanted sexual thoughts

Just like violent thoughts, recurring unwanted thoughts about inappropriate or taboo sexual behavior frequently occur in OCD.Patients may imagine for an instant that they are going to grope their coworker or molest a child, or wonder if they are gay insteadof straight (or vice versa).

When to seek help: "Most people can say, 'Oh, I don't really want to do that or it doesn't represent who I am as a person,'"Szymanski said. "But someone with OCD thinks, 'These thoughts are terrible, no one else has them, what do they mean about me.'"Changing your behavior as a result of these thoughts—avoiding gay friends or a coworker you've thought about sexually, forinstance—is another red flag.

Health.com: 10 Subtle Signs of Bipolar Disorder

Dwelling on relationships

People with OCD are known to obsessively dissect their relationships with friends, coworkers, romantic partners, and familymembers. For example, they may dwell at length on whether an offhand comment at work alienated a coworker, or whether a smallmisunderstanding ruined a romantic relationship. This mind-set may reflect an exaggerated sense of responsibility and difficultyaccepting uncertainty.

When to seek help: "Breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend can make anyone 'obsess,' whether or not they have OCD," Jenikesaid. But it may be a sign of OCD if thoughts like this get stuck in your head and snowball into excessive self-doubt or fears of beinga bad person.

Seeking reassurance

One way people with OCD try to soothe their anxiety is by asking for the opinion of their friends and family. If they're concernedthey embarrassed themselves at a party, for instance, they may repeatedly ask a friend to replay the incident. Asking friends toweigh in ("Does my house seem dirty to you?") can also be a strategy for avoiding compulsive behaviors.

When to seek help: Everyone uses their friends as a sounding board, but if you catch yourself repeating the same question overand over—or if your friend points this out—it could signal OCD. What's more, the reassurance you get from loved ones could beenabling your obsessiveness.

Health.com: 12 Signs of Depression in Men

Hating your looks

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a condition related to OCD in which people fixate on a part of their body they consider abnormalor unattractive—often their nose, skin, or hair. (Unlike eating disorders, BDD doesn't involve a focus on weight or diet changes.)The obsessive thoughts associated with BDD are very similar to those seen in OCD. Many people with BDD also have OCD andworry about the cleanliness of their body in addition to how it looks.

When to seek help: It's normal to dislike some aspects of your features. But people with BDD may spend hours a day checking themirror. "You overvalue how important it is to you and others and may avoid being around people," Szymanski said.

This article originally appeared on Health.com

URL

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/11/10-signs-may-have-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/


2 of 3 10/15/2015 6:30 PM

Privacy TermsThis material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2015 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.


3 of 3 10/15/2015 6:30 PM

10 signs you may have obsessive-compulsive disorder _ fox news

Documents