Hope to see you in Chicago for the 2012 meeting of the International Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation!Just a few quick announcements: 1) The 2012 meeting of the International Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation (IOCDF) is just a week away. The IOCDF conference marks the...
Suicide obsessions involve the fear of killing yourself, whereas self-harm obsessions focus on the fear of self-mutilation.Thoughts of death, dying, and suicide are an unfortunate reality for many individuals. In the U.S. alone between 2008 and 2009, approximately...
Some individuals with OCD fear accidentally harming others through carelessness or negligence.The fear of harming others can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a neurobiological condition that is associated with repetitive, intrusive, distressing...
Aggressive obsessions involve the fear of intentionally harming or killing others.Aggressive obsessions go by many names. Harm obsessions, violent obsessions, morbid obsessions...the list goes on... These symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involve the...
Harm obsessions involve unwanted thoughts, impulses, or images about hurting or killing yourself or others.Imagine that you're leaning down to kiss your young daughter goodnight, when BAM! You are jolted by an image of yourself stabbing her to death. Alternatively,...
Mental checking can involve mentally analyzing whether or not a behavior was completed properly.Behavioral Checking (Overt Checking) Many examples of compulsive checking rituals in OCD involve direct inspection of a target stimulus by sight, sound, or feel. Common OCD...
Checking-related OCD takes innumerable forms, and includes checks for safety, understanding, and mistakes.Compulsive checking often begins innocently enough. One check here, two checks there... But OCD's greed knows no bounds. What starts out as a simple check "just...
Sexual orientiation OCD (SO-OCD), previously referred to as "Homosexual OCD (HOCD)" involves obsessions related to one's sexual orientation. Straight people with HOCD fear they may become gay (or are secretly gay); gay people may fear becoming straight.Fear of Being...
Sexual obsessions involve unwanted sexual thoughts, such as the fear of being attracted to something unwanted, taboo, or morally "unacceptable."Sexual obsessions in OCD are recurrent unwanted sexual thoughts, such as the fear of being attracted to something unwanted,...
Body dysmorphic disorder symptom areas vary between individuals but commonly focus on the skin, hair, weight, and specific facial features.Symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a somatoform disorder that closely resembles...
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is an OCD-like syndrome that involves hyper-attention to one or more perceived bodily defects, imperfections, or flaws.What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)? Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is not formally classified as an anxiety...
Answering "What If...?" questions is an anxiety-related avoidance behavior that involves overpreparation.Anxiety, Worry, & What If Questions If you have anxiety, it's likely that you wrestle with worry and "what if" questions. Many what if questions are easily...
Hit-and-run OCD involves the fear of causing accidental injury or death while driving."Hit and run" OCD involves the fear of accidentally hitting a pedestrian while driving. In most cases of hit-and-run obsessive-compulsive disorder, fears focus on unintentionally...
Scrupulosity is a form of religious OCD that often involves having blasphemous or unacceptable thoughts about God.What is Scrupulosity? Scrupulosity is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) characterized by religious and/or moral obsessions. Scrupulosity can...
Treatment of scrupulosity (religious/moral OCD) is based on exposure and response prevention (ERP), but pre-treatment goals often focus on belief clarification.Question: I have scrupulosity (religious/moral obsessive-compulsive disorder), and I am triggered by...
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is like an exercise program for your brain.Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is just like a fitness program for your brain. However, instead of shaking up your fitness level, it's...
Unlike Choose Your Own Adventure books, therapy is a forgiving process that gives you many potential paths to pursue on your road to recovery.For anyone new to exposure-based therapy, such as exposure and response prevention (ERP), there is often much anticipatory...
If you insist on being symptom-free, “normal” body- and thought-noise become potential threats. This is because they are perceived as unwanted and dangerous.In my post about the treatment of sensorimotor OCD, a reader asked about the ultimate goal of treatment. Should...
A penguin obsessed with flying is an unhappy penguin. Resist efforts to suppress unwanted thoughts.OCD & Thought Control Can I learn to eliminate my OCD thoughts? I hear this question all the time from new patients who are searching for ways to suppress their...
The fear of coughing or choking on your own saliva can be effectively treated through exposure and response prevention (ERP). However, treatment will fail if it does not target your specific feared outcomes.Question: I have sensorimotor OCD, and I’m suffering from...
Although contamination-related OCD and washing rituals often go hand-in-hand, many rituals in this domain do not actually involve cleaning or disinfecting. Reassurance seeking is a subtle ritual that involves asking questions or seeking out information regarding the...
In health- or contamination-focused OCD, compulsions typically incorporate washing, cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing behaviors.In my last post about OCD, I discussed reasons why people do rituals. This time, I'll identify specific rituals that are common in...
Why do people with health-related OCD wash, clean, and sterilize? The obvious answer is that these rituals remove or destroy potential pathogens. However, the more accurate answer is that these behaviors allow one to escape from unwanted feelings of danger,...
Surface knowledge about OCD rituals and obsessions is of limited utility. Treatment success depends also on understanding subtle differences in feared outcomes.In my last post, I identified several types of obsessions that are associated with...
Health- or contamination-related OCD involves the fear of getting sick, making others sick, experiencing disgust, or being responsible for an unwanted outcome.OCD: Fear of Getting Sick Contamination- or health-related OCD is associated with persistent worries about...
OCD symptoms, such as acting on an unwanted impulse, can best be addressed through exposure and response prevention (ERP). Useful exposures will involve embracing your own vulnerability by intentionally entering uncomfortable situations that trigger your OCD...
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD involves willingly habituating to your triggers. When spontaneous triggers occur, don't ritualize; be strategic.Question: I know about ERP, and I understand that OCD symptoms can be reduced by resisting rituals and then...
Exposure, when done right, is about much more than just habituation.Many people have an incomplete understanding of exposure therapy... ...be it exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD, intentional mistake practice for social anxiety, or interoceptive exposures...
Sometimes the symptoms of social anxiety and OCD can overlap. Because avoidance maintains fear, consider high level exposures that involve "broadcasting" your symptoms in order to address anxiety-related cognitions. This is a CBT technique called intentional mistake...
Join us at an upcoming free, monthly OCD support group meeting. Our Kid/Teen OCD support group meets on a variable day of the month, and our Adult OCD support group meets on the second Tuesday of the month.Attention all residents of Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Juno,...
