🗂️ [[Thinking in Public]]
# Obsessive-compulsive disorder
📰 **A mental health condition characterised by intrusive, persistent thoughts and repetitive behaviours or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform.**
🕵🏻♂️ *OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder*
✍🏻 [[Jeremy Neideck]]
![[obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).svg]]
## 📑 Overview
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterised by intrusive, persistent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours or mental acts (compulsions) that a person feels driven to perform to alleviate anxiety caused by the obsessions. [^1] [^4]
### Obsessions
![[Dana Da Silva - I was petrified I was a paedophile but I had OCD#^623331]]
Obsessions are deeply seated habits of mind.
They might be aligned to your core beliefs about yourself and the world, but they can also take the form of intrusive thoughts that are shocking in the ways they transgress your personal, social, cultural, or political worldview.
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^64cf7c]]
Almost everyone has the odd off-colour, impulsive, or intrusive thought. For someone with OCD however, these thoughts consume and destabilise their mental space.
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^f666a3]]
It is the tension between the thought itself and objective reality, or even the thought and what the thinker 'thinks about' the thought that gives rise to the second aspect of OCD - compulsions.
### Compulsions
Compulsions are the repetitive behaviours or mental acts that a person is driven to perform in order to alleviate the suffering associated with their obsessions.
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^e6a8a5]]
Some people experiencing OCD undertake compulsions in a state that changes their affect, such as withdrawing or disassociating, or becoming agitated or hyperactive.
![[Chad LeJeune - Pure O OCD#^35b2f8]]
### Misconceptions
A common misconception is that OCD is simply being overly organised or a perfectionist, when in reality, OCD obsessions and compulsions are time-consuming, distressing, and significantly impair daily functioning. [^1] [^4]
### Pure O
Another common misconception is that OCD **only** involves visible compulsions like excessive handwashing or checking, however some individuals experience "[[pure O]]" or primarily obsessional OCD without overt compulsions. [^3]
![[Dana Da Silva - I was petrified I was a paedophile but I had OCD#^d81671]]
In "[[pure O]]", the compulsions are mental rituals like counting, praying, or repeating words silently to neutralise distressing thoughts. [^3]
![[Chad LeJeune - Pure O OCD#^1958dd]]
### Relationship to [[ADHD|ADHD]]
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^8ed2a2]]
I've also been diagnosed with ADHD, and currently testing pharmacological treatments for it.
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^f493a3]]
OCD is a little more complicated and I've started working with my psychologist on ways to understand the effect that these diagnoses are having on my life through [[acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)]].
![[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD#^295025]]
## OCD and Me
I have written about the ways that I experience OCD [[OCD and Me|here]].
## ⚒️ Resources
Along with the sources linked above, and in the footnotes, here are some resources that I have found really useful:
- [[Dana Da Silva - I was petrified I was a paedophile but I had OCD]]
- [[Megan Anna Neff - ADHD vs OCD]]
- [[Hope Gillette - Is There a Relationship Between OCD and Eating Disorders]]
- [[The Gateway Institute - Pure Obsessional OCD — Symptoms & Treatment|Pure Obsessional OCD — Symptoms & Treatment]]
- [[Amanda Tink - Black Inc. Has Stumbled With Its Anthology of Neurodivergent Writing. The Term Is Not a Diagnosis – It Is Part of a Political Movement]]
And here are some videos:
["Being Diagnosed As OCD Doesn't Make The Doubt Go Away" | Listen Up | ABC Science](https://www.youtube.com/embed/0UDW1fuTv2g?si=vk5hZ9oRareeS8zq)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0UDW1fuTv2g?si=vk5hZ9oRareeS8zq" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[Living with Pure O (An Internal Form of OCD)](https://youtu.be/GW4m50l7JwQ)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GW4m50l7JwQ?si=wqqsmT06w0e9A10a" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
## ⛵️ Log
- [[2024-05-22]] - Wrote first draft in response to my experience of the group dinner last night.
- [[2024-06-02]] - I fork the section about my own experiences into a [[OCD and Me|new note]].
%%
## 📝 Notes
## ⛲ Sources
### Footnotes%%
[^1]: What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? - Psychiatry.org https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/what-is-obsessive-compulsive-disorder
[^2]: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - Symptoms and causes https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354432
[^3]: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - MedicalNewsToday https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/178508
[^4]: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - MedlinePlus https://medlineplus.gov/obsessivecompulsivedisorder.html
[^5]: OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder): Symptoms & Treatment https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9490-ocd-obsessive-compulsive-disorder
#
**Template**: [[Atomic Note Template]]
**Created**: [[2024-05-22|Wednesday 22 May 2024]]
**Published**: [[2024-05-22|Wednesday 22 May 2024]]
**Updated**: 09:27 [[2024-06-02|Sunday 02 June 2024]]
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