The Many Faces of OCD

"OCD can present with almost any fear or feeling or apparent meaning, and is not determined by the content of these fears, feelings, or apparent meanings. Instead, it is defined by two elements. First, the repetitive obsessions, which can be thoughts, feelings, or images that raise anxiety, shame, disgust, or guilt. Second, individuals with OCD experience the looping alternation of obsessions with compulsions-attempts to get rid of the obsessions or lower the level of distress."

"Compulsions can range from obvious behaviors like checking, cleaning, avoiding, "researching," repeating, and ordering, to subtle mental maneuvers like analyzing, self-reassuring, ruminating, memory rehearsal, and even praying. It is this alternating process that defines OCD, not the content of the thoughts. People get drawn into the content of their obsessions, falsely believe that this is what is ailing them, and seek help for what seems to them"

Obsessive-compulsive disorder can appear in many different forms, including unusual phobias, intrusive images, distressing doubts, and persistent regrets. OCD is characterized by repetitive obsessions—thoughts, feelings, or images that provoke anxiety, shame, disgust, or guilt—and by compulsions, which are attempts to neutralize or reduce that distress. Compulsions include overt behaviors such as checking, cleaning, avoiding, researching, repeating, and ordering, as well as covert mental actions like analyzing, self-reassuring, ruminating, memory rehearsal, and praying. The defining feature is the looping alternation between obsessions and compulsions rather than the specific content of the obsessions.

Read at Psychology Today