Have you ever felt an urgent need to do something, and this need dominated your thoughts, and you only felt comfortable by implementing it? Do you get upset when you see something not arranged in a normal pattern? Do you always think that you forget something when you leave the house and come back to check more than once? It may all be because you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder.. Get to know Types of obsessive-compulsive disorder Symptoms of each type and see if they apply to you.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Obsessive is a kind of Types of anxiety disorders It happens that some unwanted thoughts control you or some obsessions and feelings that lead you to do certain things repeatedly and urgently beyond your control and you feel that you are forced to do them, and these obsessions and thoughts can abnormally interfere with your daily activities and social relationships.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is called by this name because it is divided into two parts, a part that is concerned with controlling thoughts and is called Obsessionsand a special part of customs andCompulsions Which the patient cannot resist following and doing certain actions routinely and in a certain way.

Types of obsessive-compulsive disorder

There are many types of OCD but these are the main ones:

Obsessive thoughts forbidden or forbidden

This type of obsession is not related to the need to follow compulsive habits, but it is related to certain thoughts and obsessions that are often related to sex, religion or violence. The owner of this type of obsession has strange, abnormal and unacceptable ideas in society, and this does not mean that he acts based on these ideas. But he tries to perform certain mental rituals to control this intellectual obsession and prevent himself from acting according to it at any cost.

Hygiene obsession

It is the fear of infection due to germs, pollutants, and anything that may transmit infection, including insects, blood, pets, broken glass, and bodily fluids. This obsession is closely related to anxiety disorder. Obsessive diseaseas it is from The most severe type of obsessive-compulsive disorder Because it always exposes its owner to sick anxiety.

Symptoms of hygiene obsession

• Over-sterilization and disinfection of everything that is being used.
• Getting rid of many things and throwing them away even if they are usable.
• Change clothes frequently and more than once a day, and also get rid of usable clothes.
• Repeated hand washing more than once and excessive use of hand sanitizer.
• Allocating clean and sterile areas at home, work, or any place for personal use, and not allowing anyone to approach them.
• Avoid being in certain places or using certain things.

Read more about the causes of hygiene obsession and how to get rid of it

The obsession of certainty

This obsession may be healthy at times, because it can prevent disasters that may occur due to forgetfulness and forgetting to do some things. .

Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder

This type may be one of the mildest types of obsessive-compulsive disorder because some of these habits may be important and harmless to ensure safety and security, but these habits may control the person, such as:

• Frequently making sure that the cooker and oven switches are closed.
• Ensure that the water taps are closed more than once.
• Reassuring others that a particular memory you have is real and not just thoughts you had.
• Constantly checking that the doors of the house and the car are closed.
• Constantly checking that your personal belongings are still with you, such as keys, mobile phone and wallet.

Obsession with arrangement and organization

This obsession makes its owner always seek to arrange things in a specific and organized pattern that should not change, and it is possible that he spends most of the very long time in this organization to feel that everything around him is in balance, like and order.

Symptoms of obsession with arrangement and organization

• Obsession with arranging things in a consistent and balanced manner, such as arranging shoes and clothes in a certain pattern.
• Feeling nervous if you look at unorganized or inconsistent shapes or objects.
• Avoid places that you feel have inconsistent or balanced décor.

Counting obsession

Those who suffer from this obsession have an obsession with numbers and their importance, and therefore certain things must be done a certain number of times, and they do not feel the completion of these things except with this number, for example, a person may have an obsession with the importance of the number (3), so he must do a certain action four times, for example he does By washing his hands 3 times and buying 3 things of the same kind, he can also count anything that passes in front of him, such as counting cars on the street or counting cutlery… and so on.

Obsession

This type is not considered a basic type of obsessive-compulsive disorder because whoever suffers from this condition has another type of obsession, such as the obsession with cleanliness or the obsession with counting, and he always finds it difficult to get rid of things even if he no longer uses them or even if they are unusable. Because of his fear that he might need it again, or because of his feeling of inferiority if he got rid of it.

Signs of hoarding obsession

• Keeping useless things like empty cans, old magazines, candy wrappers, unusable clothes, even broken things.
• Keeping unused things for fear that they may be needed in the future, such as textbooks, newspapers, old clothes.
• The emergence of symptoms of counting obsession may also be related to hoarding obsession, such as buying large numbers of some things because of the belief in the importance of a certain number and its complications.
• Accumulating many things and belongings in a particular locker because the person believes that they are contaminated and that no one should touch them.

Read more about compulsive hoarding and how to overcome it

Diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder

When you feel that the compulsive habits and thoughts that you suffer from consume a lot of your time daily, and make you in a state of constant anxiety and nervous stress, and affect your social and work relationships, then you should go to a psychologist to diagnose your condition.

The specialist will assess your condition by asking you about the things that cause you distress and anxiety, about the fears and abnormal thoughts that you have, about the habits that you feel the urgent need to follow and how many hours of the day you spend practicing these habits, in this way he will determine the type of obsession you suffer from and the degree of its severity Thus, he will determine the appropriate treatment.

Can obsessive-compulsive disorder be treated permanently?

Until now, there is no magic medicine to get rid of OCD completely, but it is very possible to get rid of the feeling of discomfort and annoyance from some things because of any type of OCD, and with time you will find yourself free from this obsession, as for the treatment journey, it includes cognitive behavioral therapy that exposes you What causes you to feel distress and discomfort, then by using certain techniques trained by the specialist, you will learn to control your thoughts, change your way of thinking, and get rid of the feeling of distress without doing the pressing habits that you used to do, and if you have any questions, you can consult one of our doctors from here.