OCD is not that uncommon: Understand the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.

More than 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some mental illnesses are related to anxiety, emotional disconnections or social phobias, others are more distinct and debilitating. These include PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and certain eating disorders. 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is in the latter category. The National Institute of Mental Health calls OCD a "common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder" that often interferes with one's "work, school, and personal relationships." Juanita Guerra, PhD, a clinical psychologist practicing meditation in New Rochelle, New York, says the mental illness affects some 1-3% of the global population, including "children, adolescents and adults alike."

What is OCD?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental health disorder, "where a person gets caught in a vicious cycle of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors," explains Guerra. The thoughts and fears such people experience are unwanted, intrusive, and irrational, and usually trigger "intensely uncomfortable feelings," she says. 

What makes OCD even more debilitating is that such obsessive thoughts also cause the person to engage in repetitive behaviors that often interfere with their daily activities and cause significant distress if they aren't performed to their satisfaction. "The individual is engaging in the behaviors specifically to get rid of obsessive thoughts and/or diminish the uncomfortable feelings the intrusive thoughts precipitate," Guerra says.

What are the symptoms of OCD?

Symptoms of OCD can vary, but may include frequent counting, repeatedly checking on the same things (that doors are locked, lights are off, etc.), obsessive cleaning and hygiene habits, recurring distressing thoughts, repeating the same words or phrases, or the inability to perform a certain task unless a specific pattern precedes it.  

One example Guerra provides is that of an individual who is preoccupied with the idea that their home is going to burn down. To decrease the internal angst of such a worry, the individual may need to check the stove to make sure it's been turned off. Oftentimes they will do so only minutes or hours after they already did, and "eventually, it can become so distressing that they may have difficulty leaving their home or going to sleep due to their increased need to check the stove," she explains.

Other examples of OCD behaviors include a person who is worried about germs so they cannot touch any surface or feel the need to wash their hands even minutes after they already did; or a person believing that if they don't follow a specific set of rules or a special pattern − how they put their clothes on, turning lights on and off in an exact order − bad things will happen to them or someone they care about. Some people end up planning their entire day around their irrational rules or patterns. "OCD can cause significant disruption in a person’s life," says Jesse Bracamonte, MD, DO, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

It's also worth noting that some people may attribute certain behaviors to "being OCD," when such conduct isn't actually related to the disorder. "OCD has unfortunately become a mainstream term that people use to describe their desire for order or cleanliness, when in actuality, OCD is much more than that," explains Amanda Darnley, PsyD, a practicing psychologist based in Philadelphia. For a person truly dealing with OCD, their obsessions and compulsions "make it difficult for that person to fulfill day-to-day responsibilities," she adds.

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What to do if you have OCD?

Simply preferring a space to be clean and organized isn't necessarily OCD-related. But even many of the people who are dealing with some degree of the disorder, end up finding ways to cope and manage by adapting helpful tips and techniques that have often been suggested by a mental health professional. Others dealing with OCD prefer additional medical interventions. 

"If an individual has symptoms of OCD, but not the full-blown disorder, it may be possible to manage the symptoms using anxiety-reducing strategies such as increasing mindfulness, exercising, doing meditation and yoga," says Guerra. But if the individual meets the criteria for OCD, "it would be best for them to be under the care of a trained therapist who can use techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy to address the OCD in a structured manner." The professional may also recommend for their patient to take medications "to manage whatever underlying anxiety or depression may be present," she says.