Symptoms of OCD

A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may experience symptoms ranging from anxious thoughts to a preoccupation with symmetry to a fear of harming people close to them. Although most adults with the condition recognize that their actions are senseless, many children do not. OCD symptoms are broken down into obsessions (disturbing thoughts and images) and compulsions (rituals performed to try and get rid of the obsessions).

Facts about OCD

Signs and Symptoms of OCD: An Introduction

A lot of healthy people can identify with some of the symptoms of OCD, such as checking the stove several times before leaving the house. But for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), such activities consume at least an hour a day, are very distressing, and interfere with daily life.

Most adults with symptoms of OCD recognize that what they're doing is senseless, but they can't stop it. Some people, however, particularly children with OCD, may not realize that their behavior is out of the ordinary.

Common OCD Symptoms

If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, you may experience the following symptoms:

Anxious thoughts or rituals that you feel you can't control
Persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images
An urgent need to engage in certain rituals
Obsession with germs or dirt so that you wash your hands over and over
Feeling filled with doubt
Feeling the need to check things repeatedly
Frequent thoughts of violence
Fear that you will harm people close to you
Long periods of touching things or counting
Preoccupation with order or symmetry
Persistent thoughts of performing sexual acts that are repugnant to you
Being troubled by thoughts that are against your religious beliefs.

(Symptoms of OCD Continued: Page 2)