OCD

What is obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)?

Anxious thoughts can influence our behaviour, which is helpful at times. For example, thinking 'I may have left the oven on' leads to you checking the oven and keeping things safe.

However, if that thought becomes obsessive (recurring), it can influence unhealthy patterns of behaviour that can cause difficulties in daily functioning. Obsessively thinking 'I've left the oven on' can lead to repeated checking.

For someone with the anxiety disorder known as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessions or compulsions (acts performed to alleviate the distress or neutralise the thought), or both, are present.

People with OCD often feel intense shame about their need to carry out these compulsions. These feelings of shame can exacerbate the problem and the shame, and consequent secrecy associated with OCD can lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment. It can also result in social disability, such as children failing to attend school or adults becoming housebound.