What Are Some Types Of OCD & Their Symptoms?

A Quick Guide

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent obsessions and compulsions. It can be classified into different types, such as cleaning and contamination, hoarding, intrusive thoughts and impulses, and symmetry and order. Each type has specific symptoms and behaviors that can cause distress and significantly impact a person’s life.

Understanding OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD is a mental health condition mainly characterized by Obsessions and Compulsions. Obsessions refer to recurrent intrusive thoughts, ideas, and images that lead to a lot of anxiety. Compulsions, on the other hand, refer to the actions you may partake in as a response to those obsessions to lessen that anxiety. These recurrent obsessions and compulsions can be very distressing and have severe negative effects on your life. Symptoms of OCD manifest in every individual differently and even though there are no official subtypes of OCD, research suggests that it can be classified into some types based on its symptoms. 

Types of OCD and their Symptoms

These main types of OCD include the following: 

Cleaning and Contamination 

This involves the following symptoms: 

• A sense of being unclean or dirty.
• A constant worry about disease or germs.
• Avoiding potential contaminant sources.
• Recurrent worries about coming into contact with blood, harmful substances, viruses, or other potential contaminants.
• Routines that involve particular washing or cleaning, such as washing your hands or cleaning a surface a specific amount of times.
• The need to get rid of things you think are dirty, even if they aren’t.
• The need to wash or clean contaminated objects against your will.

Hoarding

This type involves the following symptoms: 

• A compulsion to gather a specific amount of things in order to defend oneself or another person from harm.
• A constant concern that discarding something can harm you or somebody else.
• You need to get numerous extras of a single item, even if you don’t need that many.
• A need to go through or inspect your possessions constantly.
• Great aversion to accidentally discarding something useful or necessary like mail with sensitive information.
• Have trouble tossing things away because touching them can create contamination.
• You might feel incomplete if you can’t find a possession, mistakenly lost it, or tossed it away.

Intrusive thoughts and impulses

It involves the following symptom:

• Attempting to find the conviction that you won’t act on your distressing thoughts.
• Constant anxiety that you’ll act on your problematic thoughts or that you’re a bad person for having them.
• Constant guilt over contributing to negative things happening.
• Mental activities to eliminate or overwrite your thoughts.
• Persistent fear that you’ll unintentionally hurt yourself or someone else.
• Preoccupation with morally questionable or obscene religious concepts.
• Recurring, disturbing thoughts, frequently of a sexual or violent nature.
• Regularly check your daily actions to make sure you haven’t hurt someone, whether physically or emotionally.
• Seeking confirmation that you are a good person.
• The need to conceal items that you could use as weapons.
• You may feel guilty, ashamed, or distressed about your thoughts.

Symmetry and Ordering

Some of the symptoms included in this category are as follows:

• A need that objects or possessions be arranged a certain way.
• A strong desire for order or symmetry in things.
• Activities must be symmetrical for instance, if you happen to scratch your right arm, you then feel compelled to scratch your left arm too.
• Having the idea that something horrible will happen if things are not set up or organized properly.
• Organizing rituals or particular alignment techniques for items.
• Rituals involve counting, such as having to count a certain number a particular number of times.
• When things aren’t exact, it makes you feel incomplete.

While usually, one type of OCD remains persistent over time, It is possible that the nature and focus of your symptoms may change. Moreover, it is also a possibility that a person may experience more than one type of OCD at the same time. 

We hope you found this article useful in understanding more about the types of OCD along with their symptoms. Moreover, Learn more about OCD & OCPD: What’s The Difference?