OCD Defined: The Category, Signs, And Symptoms

I Must Shave My Legs: The OCD Miniseries – Part 1

To start I Must Shave My Legs: The OCD Miniseries here at Mental Health Notes, I thought we’d begin with the basics. Simply put, what is OCD and what are the signs and symptoms of OCD?

What is OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is an anxiety disorder marked by obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals and can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, or geographic location. Because the obsessions and compulsions can be chronic and hard to ignore, OCD can become disabling.

What are signs and symptoms of OCD?

The two key signs/symptoms of OCD are obsessions and compulsions. We’re going to cover both obsessions and compulsions in more detail in the posts to follow in this miniseries, but for now, consider the following example:

Kay is convinced everything in the world around her is covered in disease-carrying and potentially deadly germs. To fight off these germs, Kay washes her hands immediately after touching anything.

Sounds semi-innocent, right? Kay knows there are germs out there so she washes her hands to prevent getting sick and spreading diseases.

But there’s more to OCD than the lame, yet tried-and-true, hand-washing example I’ve given you. Kay is not only aware of the germs surrounding her; she’s obsessed with them. Kay not only washes her hands to prevent sickness; she has a compulsion to wash her hands after she touches anything. This is when OCD can become crippling and even cause Kay to show/suffer from more signs and symptoms. For example, Kay may:

• Spend a significant amount of time with hand sanitizer once she opens her car door; or she may avoid touching her car’s door handle altogether, opting to use her coat, the bottom of her shirt, or gloves each time she needs to open the door.
• Avoid shaking hands with new acquaintances. She may even avoid meeting new people at all for fear of insulting them.
• Panic if she finds herself in a “germy” situation with no soap and water or hand sanitizer. She may even begin avoiding leaving her house if she thinks she won’t have easy access to a sink.
• Develop even more compulsive rituals, such as following a certain routine when washing her hands or washing her hands a certain number of times in a row for “good luck.”

So, while some OCD symptoms may seem harmless, others – such as Kay’s situation – can interfere with a person’ regular, day-to-day life.

Stay tuned for more detailed information about the obsessions characteristic of OCD!