The term OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) often makes individuals picture someone who washes their hands repeatedly, or keeps everything perfectly organized and neat. Although cleanliness and order can be experienced by some, the reality is much broader. OCD can show up in many ways, and understanding these presentations can help support those who are struggling and reduce stigma.
As a team of therapists in Hamilton, Ontario, Rebound Total Health helps clients manage OCD through therapy, including self-compassion.
In this blog post, we explore what OCD is, determine what are the 4 types of OCD and discuss therapy options.
What Is OCD?
OCD tends not to exist in isolation. Individuals living with OCD also tend to experience other mental health challenges, which further impact their daily functioning and stressors. Some of the common conditions that may overlap with OCD include: Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Eating Disorders and ADHD.
What are the 4 Types of OCD?
- Checking OCD: Urge to repeatedly check things to calm doubt and prevent imagined harm
- Contamination OCD: Intense fears of germs, illness or spreading, causing avoidance rituals
- Symmetry and Ordering OCD: Needing things to feel just right through counting, repeated actions or organizing
- Intrusive Thoughts OCD: Unwanted and distressing thoughts or images that can invoke shame and anxiety
Let’s take a deeper look at what these types of OCD can look like and mean.
Checking OCD
Individuals with checking OCD can often experience overwhelming doubt and anxiety about safety or responsibility. Individuals may feel the need to repeatedly check that the stove is off, doors are locked, or that they haven’t made any mistakes that could harm someone else.
Therapists at Rebound can help clients understand the cycle of doubt and checking by introducing techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy and offering a safe environment to challenge these thoughts. With time, these tools can help reduce the urge to check and build trust in an individual’s ability to tolerate uncertainty.
Contamination OCD
This often involves intense fears of germs or illnesses. Individuals may experience compulsions such as excessive handwashing, cleaning, or avoiding certain places and objects to address these fears.
Therapeutic interventions can provide a supportive space to gradually face these fears in manageable and attainable steps. Utilizing techniques learned, individuals can learn to reduce the power of contamination triggers while implementing mindfulness and grounding skills to support managing the anxiety they may experience along the way
Symmetry and Ordering OCD
Individuals may experience a strong need for balance, exactness, or getting things just right. Sometimes individuals may feel compelled to align objects, count until it feels correct, or repeat actions until they experience a sensation of rightness.
Here are Rebound therapists can help clients challenge the belief that things must feel perfect for them to be okay. In a collaborative approach, they can engage in strategies to reduce rituals and build comfort with imperfection. Therapy overall focuses on the concept of self-compassion and supporting clients in recognizing that needing order is not a personal fault but part of how OCD appears for them.
Intrusive Thoughts OCD
With this form of OCD, it is commonly invisible but can have the most distressing effects. Intrusive and unwanted thoughts can be violent, sexual, or disturbing concepts that go against an individual’s values and beliefs. The thoughts individuals experience are not desires, but they create deep feelings of anxiety and shame.
In therapy, you can work to normalize the experience of intrusive thoughts and break down the cycle of avoidance, which may maintain those thoughts. Individuals can learn to respond to thoughts without judgment and how not to let them have power over themselves.
Access Support for OCD Today
Understanding what the 4 types of OCD are is a good start. OCD is a mental health condition that can impact an individual’s life and their daily functioning. Individuals do not have to navigate life with OCD independently; supports like therapy can make an impactful difference. With the support from our team of therapists at Rebound, it is possible to break the cycle of obsessions or compulsions and feel in control of your life again.Â
Book a consultation and start the process to better mental health!Â
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