How Do I Know If I Have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Has it ever happened to you that you repeatedly return to see if the door to the house is properly closed, sort everything you find around you by size and color, or wash your hands very frequently? Well, These are some possible behaviors in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) But do not spread panic! Below we will see what this peculiar disorder consists of and we will review some help to know if you suffer from it or not.
For a person to be diagnosed with OCD It has to meet some criteria reviewed by the health professional. The first is that it must present obsession, compulsion or both. But… what is an obsession and what is a compulsion?
Obsessions are Recurrent thoughts, impulses, or images that are characterized as intrusive and unwanted. This causes anxiety and discomfort in the person. They must be egodystonic, that is, go against one’s personality. For example, it happens to a person characterized as calm, kind and empathetic who has intrusive thoughts of hurting someone. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors and/or mental acts carried out in order to prevent or reduce anxiety and discomfort caused by obsessions. When you do it, you get relief, and when you don’t do it, anxiety increases.
Obsessions and/or compulsions They are time consuming and can cause clinical discomfort or deterioration in various areas in which the person is immersed (work, study, family). You have to be very careful not to confuse your symptoms with side effects of drugs, illness or other disorders. The onset of this disorder is more common in adulthood and is more common in women.
There are varying degrees of introspection in OCD That is, the degree to which people believe that what happens in their intrusive thoughts will happen if a certain repetitive behavior is not performed. The person will believe that the intrusive thoughts (obsession) are likely to manifest if they do not do the iterative behavior (compulsion).
For example, the person who locks all the doors and windows and checks on many occasions that they are secure, since he believes that if he does not do that he could die. These behaviors become constant rituals since there is the feeling that if these acts are not carried out, the obsession will become a material reality.
What you should know
Now you can breathe easy! Or not. You now have all the basic information to intuit whether or not your repetitive behaviors are OCD.
If you perform or have performed repeated behaviors, you can do the exercise of analyze the objective of said behaviors That is the key to clarifying your doubt about whether or not you have OCD. Checking the door a lot to make sure it is closed, always walking on the left side, adjusting your glasses at all times, biting your lips all the time, organizing objects by size and color or washing your hands frequently… are behaviors that by alone they don’t say much. It is essential to identify if these acts seek or have the objective of eradicating or reducing an obsession.
We must also be careful not to confuse it with obsessive-compulsive personality traits or with symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which are topics for another article.
Because of the effectiveness of treating OCD when it is just emerging, It is important that you see a mental health professional if you observe any type of intrusive thought and/or repetitive behavior or mental act, since only in this way can the definitive diagnosis be made.
