Checking – making sure we are safe and/or that we are not ‘bad’
There are a million and one things your OCD might check. For example:
- the door is locked
- the lights are off
- the cooker is off
- the car is locked
- a candle is out
- a window is shut
- your social media feed
- other people’s body language or statements
Cleaning – making sure we, and others, are safe
Everybody cleans, but an OCD cleaning compulsion means something very different:
- you might bleach everything
- you might scrub away at surfaces even when you can’t see any dirt
- you might avoid places or touching objects you think are unclean
- you might avoid people you feel are unclean
- you might constantly hoover the floor – several times a day
- you might tidy up all the time and feel high anxiety if you don’t
Ordering – making sure we are in control
Ordering is when we need to have our things laid out or stored away in a particular order. It’s more than just liking things neat and tidy. Examples of this might be:
- colour coding your phone apps
- arranging books in alphabetical, size or colour order
- having pens, pencils, knives, forks in perfectly straight lines
- making objects equidistant from other objects
Counting – feeling settled and/or preventing harm to others
Counting is just that – performing a behaviour a certain amount of times. – any other number just doesn’t feel right. For example:
- checking a door is locked 5 times
- turning a light switch on and off 6 times
- breathing in and out 4 times
- repeating a word in your head 10 times
‘Just right’ perfectionism
‘Just right’ perfectionism can hook itself onto anything – anything at all. Here are some examples:
- writing a word 20 times before it is perfect enough
- going up and down stairs 30 times before it has been done ‘correctly’
- opening and shutting a door 40 times until it has given the ‘right click’
*this is just a snapshot of the more common compulsions. There are more. For more info, head over to the OCD UK website by clicking the button below.