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Nov 28, 2023 · Repetitive tapping is not an uncommon experience for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other related conditions. But that’s not always the case—it can occur in people without a particular mental health condition, as well. Many of us engage in some kind of repetitive behavior, whether it’s jiggling our legs up and down ...
- What’s the difference between stims, tics, and compulsions?
A compulsion is a repetitive and ritualistic behavior that...
- What’s the difference between stims, tics, and compulsions?
21 hours ago · Key points. Mental compulsions are covert and can be tricky for clients and therapists to identify. Mental compulsions can be distinguished from normal cognitive processes by looking at the function.
Jan 28, 2020 · A Touching Story: Touching And Movement Compulsions. Fred Penzel Ph.D. OCD encompasses many different groups of symptoms. One of the less well-known is touching and movement compulsions. Those whose disorder includes these symptoms can be seen to do one or more of the following: Gesture or pose in a special way.
Jul 17, 2023 · A compulsion is a repetitive and ritualistic behavior that can be either physical or mental. Compulsions are most often associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) —a mental disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts (obsessions) and compulsive physical and/or mental behaviors (compulsions) intended to reduce the distress caused by those thoughts.
- Overview
- What are obsessions?
- What are compulsions?
- What do obsessions and compulsions look like together?
- Can obsessions exist without compulsions?
- When to seek help
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves persistent, unwanted obsessions and compulsions.
With OCD, obsessive thoughts usually trigger compulsive actions meant to help dispel the thoughts and reduce distress. But this usually only provides short-term relief and doesn’t make the obsession go away.
Obsessions and compulsions can become a cycle that’s difficult to stop. The time you spend on compulsions might begin to take up so much of your day that you find it hard to get anything else done. This can affect your school, work, or personal life, leading to even more distress.
Read on to find out more about obsessions and compulsions, including examples of how they might occur together for someone and when it might help to talk to a mental health professional.
Obsessive thoughts can interrupt your daily life, upsetting you and making it hard to do things you want to do. Even if you’re aware they aren’t real and know you won’t act on them, you may still feel distressed and worry you could act on them. As a result, you might try to avoid everything that triggers these thoughts.
There are several types of obsessions, and it’s common to experience more than one type. Symptoms generally depend on the type.
Compulsions refer to mental or physical responses or behaviors to obsessions. You may feel the need to repeat these behaviors over and over even though you don’t actually want to be doing them. This can take up hours of your day.
Carrying out these compulsions brings about a sense of relief from an obsession, but this feeling is usually short-lived.
Sometimes compulsions are related and relevant to an obsession. For example, you might check, unlock, and relock your front door seven times before leaving to prevent a break-in.
But in other cases, they might be totally unrelated. For example, you might tap a specific area of a wall before leaving the house because you feel it helps to prevent getting in a car accident on your way to work.
In general, most people with OCD experience an obsessive thought, and then feel compelled to perform an action (compulsion) to help relieve the anxiety or stress associated with the obsession.
The obsession and compulsion may have some relation to each other, but this isn’t always the case.
While we typically think of obsessions and compulsions in the context of OCD, there’s a lesser-known variation of OCD that some refer to as “pure O.” The name comes from the idea that it involves only obsessions.
Experts believe this type generally still involves compulsive rituals, just that these rituals look different from typical compulsive behaviors.
Pure O commonly involves intrusive thoughts and images of:
•hurting yourself or other people
•sexual acts, particularly those you consider wrong, immoral, or harmful to others
•blasphemous or religious thoughts
Anyone can experience brief mental fixations, obsessive and intrusive thoughts, or unexplainable urges to carry out a specific task or action. In general, obsessions and compulsions only indicate OCD when they:
•take up a significant part of your day
•are unwanted
•negatively affect your personal life and relationships
Feeling a need to clean a lot because you enjoy cleaning and like the look of a tidy house wouldn’t be a sign of OCD, since you take pleasure in the activity and pride in the result.
What could indicate OCD, for example, is fearing your child might develop a serious illness if you don’t have a completely clean and germ-free house. As a result of this persistent worry, you clean several hours each day but still worry you missed something and feel distressed until you start cleaning again.
- Crystal Raypole
Contamination. Mental Contamination. Hoarding. Ruminations. Intrusive Thoughts. Symmetry and Orderliness. The above list categorises the more common forms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and some of the fears associated with them. But this is by no means an exhaustive list and there will always be other OCD types not listed here.
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Apr 26, 2017 · Psychomotor agitation is a common symptom of bipolar depression. It mostly occurs during manic episodes, but it’s also seen during depressive episodes. It’s often linked with other noneuphoric ...
