The 5 most important types of OCD

There are three main characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD. These characteristics are the compulsions, obsessions, and anxiety caused by both.

Obsessions imply the appearance of repetitive thoughts or ideas that disturb the lives of patients and make it difficult for them to concentrate beyond them. Compulsions are the consequence of obsessions and are used as a method to alleviate the anxiety caused by them. That is, people do things in a specific way in response to obsessions.

Within Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) several main categories can be distinguished where different groups of symptoms are collected. In this article we will see the most common types of OCD.

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What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?

OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, is one of the 5 most common psychopathologies, and characterized by giving rise to a vicious circle of obsessions and compulsions, the two elements that are embodied in the name of this alteration.

Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that generate intense discomfort and make the person desperately seek a solution. way of diverting his attention from that mental content or, at least, alleviating it by performing some action that detracts from it. intensity; and the compulsion is precisely what you end up doing to achieve it, an action based on a sequence of behaviors that over time is reinforced until we perceive it as the only solution to the obsessions.

In this way, the obsession gives rise to the compulsion and vice versa, since both induce us to give great importance to the other, to predispose ourselves to experience them in an intertwined way. Besides, As the OCD consolidates, the obsessions tend to increase in complexity and level of difficulty., so that if the person makes a mistake when doing it, he feels that he needs to start over.

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What are the different types of OCD?

OCD can present itself in a number of different ways, with research suggesting that people experience OCD symptoms in five categories. main: cleaning and contamination, compulsive accumulation, symmetry and ordering, checking or verification and thoughts and impulses prohibited.

Although there is no official classification, the different groups of symptoms are described in the recent edition of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Therefore, mental health professionals prefer to refer to the different subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorders as symptomatic dimensions.

1. pollution TOC

Obsessive Compulsive Pollution Disorder is a type of OCD that refers to the obsession with cleanliness and personal hygiene.

People with this type of OCD have the fear that they or their environment is contaminated and the fear of contracting serious diseases, that a person in their environment die for some germ-related reason, and the fear that they themselves will come into contact with bacteria, viruses, and even fluids bodily.

Contamination OCD compulsions can be: avoid touching objects or people, avoid going to places, since these can threaten your health; use protection such as gloves, paper towels, and wash often (showering, washing hands repeatedly or with hydroalcoholic gel every time they touch something that may be contaminated). And, being afraid of contracting serious diseases, repeat health tests, such as tests for sexually transmitted infections/diseases (STIs/STDs).

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2. repeat OCD

People with this type of OCD they think that if they don't do a certain number of things, bad things will happen to them or their loved ones. The obsession in repetition OCD is believing that if they don't say, for example, the word “heaven” 3 times, something catastrophic will happen near them. The compulsion, in this example, is the repetition of the word "heaven" so that nothing bad happens.

3. Hoarding OCD

People with hoarding disorder have great difficulty parting with possessions they have. They have a persistent perception that the things they own need to be kept. This leads them to store many unnecessary items, even if they have no real value. People with this disorder also are prone to panic at the thought of getting rid of their possessions, which frequently results in excessive clutter.

The obsession in obsessive-compulsive hoarding disorder is the fear of accidentally throwing away something important. And, for its part, the compulsion is to keep all the objects and not throw anything away so as not to lose that relevant object. For example, if a person with hoarding OCD buys a newspaper every day and puts it away, she will never want to throw away the newspapers for fear of throwing away one that is special for some reason.

We have to differentiate hoarding disorder from Diogenes syndrome. In the case of Diogenes syndrome, what accumulates is garbage, whereas in hoarding disorder, the person keeps the things that he considers necessary or valuable to him, it does not necessarily have to be things disposable.

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4. Check or Verify TOC

People with checking or checking obsessive-compulsive disorder have a need to check anything that might endanger them in any way. For example, verify that they have closed the gas key several times after cooking, for fear of an explosion. Or check that they have locked the door of the house when leaving, for fear of being robbed, going back to make sure of this.

In this case, the obsession is the fear that something bad will happen due to carelessness: a robbery, or an explosion, for example. And, the compulsion is the constant verification that they have locked the house or the car, or the gas tap in the kitchen.

5. order TOC

People with obsessive-compulsive order disorder need to have everything arranged in a certain way because otherwise, again, they think something bad will happen. People who suffer from this OCD they often create guidelines and norms to generate that order. For example, the pens to the left of the notebook placed in a certain order of colors and parallel to the notebook.

The obsession of this type of OCD is the need to place certain things in a certain way (like pens) for fear that if they are not placed in this way something bad will happen. The compulsion, for its part, is the need to order them to reduce that fear.

Sometimes the obsessive-compulsive disorder of order is accompanied by the obsessive-compulsive disorder of contamination, which we have discussed previously.

Consequences of having OCD

Some people may think that they have some form of OCD because they are too tidy, or are afraid to leave the car unlocked or the house keys in, or become obsessed with personal hygiene or their home. So, these manifestations are natural, we all have certain small obsessions regarding specific topics, and they do not constitute in themselves the suffering of any type of obsessive disorder.

However, we can talk about a person suffering from OCD when their way of ordering, cleaning (or washing) involves an accomplishment of rituals and steps that you cannot stop doing and are not done in a sensible way.

In addition, a person with OCD may constantly try to avoid situations in which they are exposed or fearful. This sometimes makes people with obsessive-compulsive disorder see interfered with their daily life because of it, and consequently, develop other conditions such as depression or anxiety. OCD can also be the cause of social isolation or work problems.