Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum

BUT I DON'T LOOK LIKE I HAVE OCD?

When you think of obsessive-compulsive disorder, you may imagine a person who checks the stove over and over again to make sure it wasn't left on. Compulsions can be overt repetitive physical acts like checking and re-checking, as well as ordering and re-ordering items in a particular way or locking and re-locking the car. Compulsions can also be mental acts, such as excessively reassuring oneself that everything is "okay," endless rumination (thinking about something until it feels "resolved") or mental reviewing (replaying events), and replacing "unacceptable" thoughts with "acceptable" thoughts.

DIFFERENTIATING ANXIETY + PCD

It is important to differentiate a pure anxiety disorder from an obsessive-compulsive disorder or an anxiety disorder with obsessive-compulsive features because the treatment will be different. If you have sought therapy for anxiety in the past and found it unhelpful, for example you found that refocusing your fearful thoughts became its own compulsive habit, it is possible that your anxiety was misdiagnosed or that you also have obsessive-compulsive traits that complicate the treatment of anxiety. Pure anxiety often manifests as escalating worries (what if this? What if that?), whereas obsessive-compulsive thinking is often marked by alternating escalation (worries) and temporary relief (compulsive self-soothing). 

HOW OCD FEELS

When your thinking is marked by cognitive compulsions, it is very difficult to reach an end point where you feel like you have finally worked out the issue. In the OCD cycle, anxiety is fueled by uncertainty and ambiguity. You may find yourself thinking about the same thing over and over again but never feeling settled. The thoughts may go away for a period of time if you've found temporary relief, but they always come back. In this event, trying to reach a resolution is the problem instead of the solution. 

OCD + THERAPY

Perhaps therapy has been unsuccessful for you in the past because your therapist has unintentionally co-ruminated with you and reinforced your cognitive compulsions or offered you tools that were not effective due to misdiagnosis. With the proper approach, you can learn to take back control of your mind.