Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

From time to time, almost everyone has a disturbing thought or checks more than once they have locked the door. For most people these thoughts and actions can be forgotten. But if a person has OCD, the thoughts and feelings of discomfort can take over and they will feel anxious until they have done something to help them to deal with the thought. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (or OCD for short) is the name given to a condition in which a person has obsessions and/or compulsions, but usually both.

Obsessions and Compulsions

An obsession is a thought, image or impulse that keeps coming into a person’s mind and is difficult to get rid of or control and is distressing.

There are lots of different obsessions that can affect someone with OCD, but a few examples are:

  • being afraid of contamination by dirt and germs
  • worrying that something is not safe, such as an electrical appliance
  • thoughts and fears of harming someone else
  • wanting to have things in a particular order or arrangement (such as in a symmetrical fashion).


There are lots of different compulsions that can affect someone with OCD (sometimes called ‘rituals’), but a few examples are:

  • excessive washing and cleaning
  • checking things repeatedly (for example, that a door is locked or that an electrical appliance is switched off)
  • keeping objects that other people might throw away (called ‘hoarding’)
  • repeating acts
  • repeating words or numbers in a pattern.

A compulsion is a feeling that a person has that they must repeat physical actions or mental acts. Usually people do this in response to an obsessive thought (for example, if a person is worried about dirt, they might clean something repeatedly).


Getting Help

OCD can affect people in different ways. Some people may spend much of their day carrying out various compulsions and be unable to get out of the house or manage normal activities. Others may appear to be coping with day-to-day life while still suffering a huge amount of distress from obsessive thoughts.

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