Similar to symmetry and order compulsions, checking compulsions have been associated with anger and trauma. Other common compulsions include repeating mantras, prayers, or safety words to ward off danger or reduce anxiety. People affected by checking compulsions describe a feeling of incompleteness unless they perform certain rituals or behaviors. An excessive dread of being responsible for harm can lead to compulsive checking behaviors - for example, repeatedly making sure you’ve turned off the stove or an iron. Some people have intrusive thoughts and fears about harming others or being harmed themselves. Researchers have found that people with symmetry obsession and an ordering compulsion often have trouble expressing anger in healthy ways and may have a personal history of trauma. For example, individuals with OCD may think, “If I don’t line up my toiletries exactly this far apart, someone is going to harm me today, or if I clean my sink five times this morning, my brother won’t get sick today.” Some people become preoccupied with arranging objects in a certain order, often because of a kind of magical thinking or magical ideation. People may believe that by cleaning objects or spaces in a specific order or with a particular frequency, they can avoid or recover from contamination or infection. People may even fear that they’re contaminating others.Īn obsession with contamination can lead to a cleaning compulsion. Some people have an extreme fear of becoming contaminated by germs, bodily fluids, or other substances - including abstract contaminants like evil or bad luck. Here’s a brief look at the symptom dimensions as currently described in scientific literature: Contamination and cleaning Is there a type of OCD that focuses on cleaning?Īlthough DSM-5 doesn’t list subtypes of OCD, some researchers group obsessions and compulsions into “symptom dimensions.” These clusters of symptoms share similar anxieties and behavior patterns. It involves a sometimes debilitating and distressing need to clean and reclean specific areas or items. OCD, then, is much more than a desire to work or live in a clean environment or a preference for neatness. The need to precisely perform rituals and compulsive acts can cause serious anxiety. They can disrupt a person’s social, academic, or professional life. Some people feel that completing these actions will neutralize a threat, make an obsessive thought stop, or relieve the anxiety that unwanted thoughts create.ĭSM-5 emphasizes that compulsive acts can take up a lot of time. The actions may be physical behaviors (such as arranging objects in a particular order) or mental ones (like praying in a particular way). In response to these unwanted thoughts, people with OCD may feel an intense urge to repeat certain actions. It describes OCD as a disorder that causes people to experience distressing thoughts and mental images that won’t go away. The new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is an authoritative guide to psychological conditions. What’s the connection between cleaning and OCD?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |