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- [Narrator] Hey, Psych2Goers.
Welcome back to our channel.
We wanted to let you know
that each and every one of your comments, likes, and shares,
helps support this channel and our goal to spread awareness
about psychology and mental health.
You help us make psychology
and mental health more accessible to everyone.
So, thank you so much for your support.
Before we begin, we would also like to remind you
that this video is for educational purposes only,
and is not intended to be used as a diagnosis.
So please do not self-diagnose.
If you suspect you or someone else might have OCD,
we advise you to seek professional help.
With that said, let's continue.
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 that 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.
Number one, Intrusive Thoughts and Ruminations.
When someone with OCD suffers from intrusive thoughts,
it's not the occasional disturbing thought now and then,
it can be normal for people to have an intrusive thought
as they go about their day.
They may think of something worrisome
or unpleasant and brush the thought aside.
With OCD, it's a different story.
When someone with OCD has intrusive thoughts,
they're repetitive and often constant.
They can obsess on the thought for minutes or even hours.
These thoughts can range in topic and be anything,
but some common ones are: violent intrusive thoughts,
which involve a fear of harming yourself or a loved one,
sexual intrusive thoughts,
which can involve unwanted thoughts
of causing sexual harm to someone
or obsessively questioning one's sexuality.
And others can involve obsessions on religion
and the fear of committing sin,
analyzing one's relationship excessively,
and magical thinking intrusive thoughts,
in which one fears that simply thinking about thought
can make it more likely to happen.
These thoughts are often followed by rituals or compulsion
in order to make the bad thing not happen,
or to simply assure oneself
that they don't feel a certain way about a negative thought.
Ruminations in OCD are when one dwells upon a question
or a theme that is unproductive and likely to lead nowhere,
dwelled upon for an excessive amount of time,
more than your average philosopher.
These are often different from intrusive thoughts,
as they can be indulged in rather than resisted.
Someone with OCD may excessively ruminate
about life after death,
visualizing every scenario to the detail,
leaving them detached and preoccupied
from what is going on around them
as they're attending to the thoughts in their mind.
Number two, Checking.
OCD can present itself in the need to check on something.
This act as the compulsion.
Checking is often enacted out of a fear
of something bad will happen such as a fire,
a burglary, or harm to loved ones.
This can display itself in a variety of ways.
Someone may check in with their family members
to gain reassurance about their fears,
or maybe they feel an unrelenting need
to check the door repeatedly to make sure it's locked
out of fear of a burglary.
Someone with OCD may even try to recall past memories
to make sure they felt a certain way
or didn't cause someone harm.
For example, someone with OCD may be obsessing
on their thoughts, questioning their sexuality.
When they know outside of the obsessing,
what their sexual preference is, the individual may check
or pay attention to their body for arousal.
But because they're focused on not wanting this response,
the body may automatically generate feelings of arousal.
As research has shown,
our bodies often react to what is actually relevant,
and not always what we desire and value.
Or, another example, someone with those CD
may check an email they've written over and over,
analyzing for any imperfections,
and fear they may have written something wrong
or will offend someone.
Could you imagine writing an email to your boss
only to check it for minutes on end,
all due to a fear you may have written something
that could come across as inappropriate,
and therefore lose your job as a result.
We all generally need our jobs.
So while this fear may seem to derive
from an irrational place,
those checking their email for the hundredth time
are often afraid of losing something important to them.
This is a common fear for those suffering from OCD.
In the sense that they love or value something so much,
they will strongly feel the need to act
out these compulsions to protect what they love.
And since what you love
and value can often change in your life,
OCD will grab a hold
of what it is you're enjoying and valuing,
and try to manipulate it inside of you mind
according to your fears.
This is one of the many dark features of OCD.
Number three, Contamination or Mental Contamination.
Among those with OCD,
there are generally two types of contamination obsessions.
One is simply labeled as contamination.
Contamination is often characterized by the strong fear
of being dirty or contracting germs from objects or people.
Someone may not like to shake hands
as they have an obsession with contracting a virus
from someone else,
or someone may be excessively brushing their teeth
or scrubbing their hands for minutes on end,
out of fear of not feeling clean enough
or feeling just right.
A lot of physical damage can occur due to these compulsions.
Mental contamination is an area of OCD
researchers are just recently starting to get
an understanding of.
It can be evoked when someone feels
as if they've been treated badly,
or if someone says an abusive remark to them.
The person will engage in compulsions
to wash away this bad feeling,
such as showering or acting out other compulsions.
And number four, Symmetry and Orderliness.
This type of OCD manifests in different ways,
such as organizing one's books or DVDs,
making sure everything is neat,
or clothes folded perfectly and hanging the same way.
While a lot of us may simply like symmetry,
but those with OCD focused on symmetry and order
are obsessed about it and did not gain any enjoyment
out of organizing to ensure it feels just right.
Remember, what may look organized and clean
to someone who doesn't have OCD,
may feel wrong to someone with OCD,
because it's about the feeling.
Logically, they know their books are neatly stacked
and their closet is fairly organized,
but they can't shake the strong feeling
that it isn't just right.
This feeling may even pester them throughout the entire day,
which is why they so strongly feel the need
to act out the compulsion.
With OCD, the compulsion often only provides relief for,
often, literally a second.
The thoughts and obsessions play on a loop,
leaving a repetitive cycle,
and compulsions are an urge to simply be free of fear,
and, if for only just a second, to feel right.
Fortunately, there is good news and hope in some of this.
There are therapists who do understand
and specialize in treating OCD.
Some of those affected by OCD have seen productive results
through cognitive behavioral therapy
from a therapist who does understand the condition.
If you suspect you or someone else may have OCD,
we highly recommend you seek professional help.
So, do you now understand OCD a little bit more?
Thanks for watching and learning more about mental illness
and psychology, Psych2Goers.
Did you learn something new about OCD?
Are you or someone you know diagnosed with OCD?
Feel free to share with us in the comments
and engage with others
who may suffer from the same type as you.
It can help to understand your mental illness more,
and make you feel less alone in the process,
because you're not alone,
no matter what you're going through.
A bit of support could be the first step
into feeling just a little bit better.
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don't forget to click the like button
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