4 Types of OCD & How They Manifest

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is a mental illness that is exhibited by repetitive unwanted or intrusive thoughts - the obsessions - often followed by an urge to do something repeatedly - the compulsions. It is a very serious mental illness that causes a great deal of suffering to those who have it. But did you know there can be many different ways in which OCD manifests itself? To help you get a better understanding of OCD, here are four different types of OCD and how they manifest.

Writer: Michal Mitchell
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[pedr]

The worst part about having OCD is doubting your own memories, If i check the door, the second I turn my back away from it, my mind goes : "Are you sure that you checked the door though? What if you didn't and your house get invaded?"


Edit: Wow, I didn't know that me talking about my mental health would be so relatable to so many people. And I just want to say that I started therapy and I'm now longer under the stress of my OCD, I'm in a much better place now :)

[sambono]

i have ocd. wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. if you have ocd you are not alone trust me!! you will get through this

[roselynn]

Society should definitely have more of a conversation around intrusive thoughts. From age 18-21 I was constantly worried that I was turning into a pedophile and a serial killer. I wanted to KMS to keep other people safe from me. Then I found out about OCD intrusive thoughts and realized that I was sick, not a monster. I confided in my psychiatrist and she prescribed me Duloxetine and it’s made things far more manageable. I rarely have those intrusive thoughts unless I forget to take my medication. It also helped to realize that the fact that I was actually worried about the thoughts meant I didn’t want to act on them. An actual pedo or serial killer would lack the empathy for others required to feel bad about it. They would relish the thoughts, not feel queasy and guilty. If you’re in the same boat, please get on medication. What’s in your head doesn’t define you, your actions do.

[Dj-dtw]

My journey to recovery was aided by the therapeutic potential of mushroom

[theo]

I recently got diagnosed with OCD and my therapist said something really beautiful about it. She said that having OCD means that you feel responsible for your own thoughts more than other people and that's not a bad thing we just have to learn how to embrace it

[andressaloiola]

A common line I use to explain my intrusive thoughts in ocd is “imagine if your head never shut up? It just keeps annoying you with the same shitty things over and over again, imagine if this chatty terribly intrusive mind starts to control you and everything in your life, and you feel like you’d give anything for it to just, shut up. That’s ocd for me”

[emmagine]

I currently am going through my fifth OCD depressive episode. I was admitted into a mental hospital twice in the last month. I legitimately have nearly every type of OCD that was mentioned in this video. I have had (and still have a few of these) Pedophilia OCD, Racism OCD, Incest OCD, Contamination OCD, Ritualistic OCD, Harm OCD, False Memory OCD and more.

The Racism OCD is EXTREMELY distressing to me. In fact, the distress is constant. My whole life I’ve been taught to be kind to all people, regardless of the color of their skin, their ethnicity, their culture, their sexuality, their age, their ability to do certain things, etc. So when I get these disgusting racist intrusive thoughts, I constantly am saying “IS THIS TRUE? DO I BELIEVE THIS?” What’s worse is that I avoid POC (mainly black people) because I’m so scared that just by being near them I will be hurting them in some illogical way that my OCD has created or I’ll have a disgusting intrusive thought about them that’s the opposite of how I typically feel. Then what’s worse is that when I avoid them to keep them safe or so that I can’t have the intrusive thoughts, my brain is like “You’re avoiding them because you’re racist and you don’t like them.” So then I get triggered by that and it’s just this vicious, debilitating cycle that makes me question myself. I’m absolutely terrified I’m never going to see black people the way I used to, without feeling fear and anxiety that convinces me I’m racist even though I NEVER want to be something so disgusting like a racist. The very thought of racism disgusts me so much that when my OCD is convincing me I’m a horrible person, I get cold sweats, shake, hyperventilate, cry, etc. Update 9/30/2022: What’s especially painful is that my OCD has gotten worse and rather than just getting intrusive thoughts about black people, it’s now ALL POC. The last three days have been hell for me. I’m so disgusted with myself and so confused. 😭
UPDATE 10/4/2020: Racism OCD is hell on Earth.
These last eight months have been hell on Earth. My values used to be so incredibly clear for me, but now they feel nullified and dull. I still act kind to everyone I see and talk to but I have such intense guilt for the intrusive thoughts and feelings I receive. :(
I’ll see POC in media, on TV, in books, etc. and every time I do I feel so much shame and guilt. What I absolutely hate most about my OCD is the fact it has linked dread, fear, doubt, guilt, shame, etc. all to POC. I know in my heart that it is NOT POC who cause my OCD, it’s just that my OCD sees them as a trigger to so much pain and anxiety that as a defense mechanism I automatically feel a bit of resentment naturally now. I feel so ashamed and disgusted with myself because of that. I hope to God these horrible, fucking DISGUSTING thoughts in my head will go away someday.
I just want my old life and self back. I feel like my values are gone and that I am now racist and trapped in this way of thinking forever due to irreversible trauma. :, (

With the contamination OCD, I constantly feel like there is something on my hands that can cause someone to be raped or killed just by touching them or touching whatever I touched with that hand. I constantly wash my hands due to this. I constantly get thoughts that if I don’t clean my hands or wipe them off in a safe place, I purposely am trying to get something from me inside my mother or other members of my family, hence the Incest OCD. It is debilitating. I legitimately burst into tears and can’t even move when I have thoughts like that because I care for my family so much in a completely normal healthy way. OCD takes my familial love for them and convinces me that instead of normal love for my family, it’s sexual attraction. It makes me sick, and has legitimately made me hunch over and gag.

I try to check my past memories and think “Did I wipe my hand on the table to have a “part” of me inside of my mother?” Or “When I hugged that baby when I was younger, did I molest it in anyway?” It’s horrible, terrifying, and absolutely horrific.

When I try to compete with my compulsions, my OCD automatically tells me that I’m doing this horrible thing on purpose. That’s what’s so hard about fighting OCD. It’ll convince you that if you don’t do your compulsions, you’re trying to hurt someone indirectly.

The Pedophilia OCD was at it’s worst when I was 15 (I’m 19 now). Like the others, it was debilitating. I couldn’t sit down anywhere in fear that a kid had sat in that place, and by sitting there something from them would crawl inside of me through my *censored* and something from a kid would be inside me, and therefore I’d be having sex with them, even though of course that’s absolutely illogical and that’s legitimately not how sex works. That’s what’s so hard about OCD. Deep down you know the compulsions are absolutely illogical but they feel so unbelievably real. I would avoid children like the plague. The way I got over this type of OCD (for the most part) was going to an Intensive Outpatient Program that specialized in Exposure Response Prevention Therapy.

I’m now getting treatment again. It’s so incredibly hard. I wouldn’t wish OCD on my worst enemy. I truly believe it is the most painful thing in the world. It takes what you care about most and convinces you that you want to completely corrupt, destroy, rape, harm, etc. them. It hurts so much. I’m praying someday I’ll get better but I may never know. I just hope by writing all of this people who feel like they’re alone will know that they are not. OCD is a monster, but it is possible to beat it.

A Very Important Thing to Note: OCD attacks your values. It takes the most important things in a person's life or a person's moral compass and tries to manipulate it and twist it. My whole life the most important thing for me has been being kind to others. I also have wanted to be a teacher since I was seven years old, and family is extremely important to me. Hence, I have Pedophilia, Incest, and Racism OCD. Pure O OCD comes from a place of extreme self hatred and (usually) some type of trauma, so receiving therapy for that may also help.

UPDATE 2/26/2022: Alright everyone!! I’m doing so much better. :, ) I ended up getting IVIG treatment because of the discovery of me having PANS and it’s helped IMMENSELY. My Racism OCD is quickly fading away, along with the Incest OCD. I was finally able to have a conversation with my brother about my trauma with OCD and was able to apologize for allowing it to hurt our friendship. There are still hard days, but they’re so much rarer now. I’ll keep you all updated but as of right now, Im doing so much better. 🥹❤️

[stanloona]

I’ve had OCD ever since early childhood, I had always thought that I was strange or insane. When I finally discovered what OCD truly meant, I decided to see a doctor and was medically diagnosed. I have many mental illnesses but OCD is the one I despise the most, it’s torturous, my thoughts are constantly flying through my head and it is as if I have an endless list of tasks that have to do every single day. It is like a curse, in which the only escape is sleep.

[xioyuwonder]

I'm seriously gonna cry, this entire time I thought I was a bad person or crazy, this makes me feel so validated I wanna cry

[christianvalentine]

You forgot one common thing: rituals. And if you don't do them "properly", nothing will go as planned, or something terrible will happen, and you just won't be able to think of anything else.

[carrot]

It also happens with touching. For example, touching things with both hands, and if you happen to brush your arm you got to do it with your other arm to feel 'right' and not 'unbalanced'. This is my type of OCD and it could be a big distraction to daily activities.

[charliesanimalyoutube]

I have SERIOUS intrusive thoughts OCD. I was diagnosed early 2021. I am glad that this video mentioned it because I feel like people only pay attention to the checking and the symmetry types of OCD. thank you.

[nicoleonfeels]

Learning this has made me more sensitive to OCD jokes- though not malicious in nature, it is a reality some people live thru that isn’t a laughing matter.

[SonyaKhanOfficial]

Having undiagnosed OCD is a different kind of mental hell. Just when I was worrying about it today I see this video in my recommendations omfg. I love ya'll, you're not alone.

[MsIndiya]

I am in my 40s and have experienced OCD all my life. I can say that my ocd became less powerful and much less disturbing overtime. Have had a lot of cognitive behavioural therapy. I didn't accept any medication because of all the negative side effects and the chance of becoming addicted to it.
What really helped me, is becoming aware that the EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT to these negative, compulsive thoughts,   are the root cause of behaving obsessively and doing rituals to ward off bad things happening to us or our dear ones. They are ONLY THOUGHTS  that our mind gives importance to and they aren't really happening in real life!

It took me a while to accept this fact and that we don't have fully control over a lot of things in our life that causes suffering.  The irony is that all those obsessive, compulsive rituals we do to prevent suffering, eventually give us so much more stress, thus constant suffering. Things, good or bad, happen in life, even if our mind tricks us to think we can ward it off.

I don't take my ocd thoughts, in the moment they appear, too seriously anymore. By giving too much power to our 'ocd mind' it starts controlling us.  
My therapist once said:"  Oberve your ocd thoughts with logic. Breathe and let them pass. Don't take them too seriously." I made this my mantra and it became a gamechanger for me!

You are so much more than your thoughts. Hope you find peace in your mind🙏🏼!

[MisfortuneFeeva]

1:11 intrusive thoughts and rumination
2:53 checking
4:53 contamination or mental contamination
5:51 symmetry and orderliness

2:56 among us

[InsaneGold]

So happy that you talked about how there are different types of OCD, and even included different types of intrusive thoughts, I feel less alone now.

[marj]

As someone with diagnosed severe OCD, this is one of the better videos I’ve seen on OCD. There are many many ways OCD manifests but most people think it comes out as “germophobia or perfectionism.”
It’s not just repeatedly washing your hands or having a repeated thought three times a day or needing everything neat.
For the people who deal with OCD it is constant horrible torture. Please take it easy on your friends and loved ones with OCD.

[Cinnamon]

I was diagnosed with ADHD and the (as the video says it) “intrusive thoughts type of ocd” a few months back, it sucks because people think that because ADHD is not paying attention and ocd is crazy attention-paying, people think that’s it’s impossible for me to have both. People have such a surface level understanding of these things so thanks for letting people in on information

[godknows]

As someone who is diagnosed with OCD. You're one of the best videos that explained OCD. I'm happy people are learning more about it.