They also found themselves unable to complete car journeys without an enormous number of safety checks and after any journey, they worried they may have hit somebody with their car without realising. Their checking behaviours escalated to the point where they were hoarding customer receipts, and any work involving counting or checking became nearly impossible to complete in a reasonable period of time. Changing between tasks further increased their distress and therefore their compulsions became more time-consuming. They were happy enough in aspects of their work that involved predictable, repeatable routine, but anything that took them away from this caused great distress. And what if that led to problems when the till was counted? Receipts also became an issue as they worried about the potential impact of a customer not receiving a receipt - what if there was a fault with the good? This person found themselves obsessively over checking customer change, to the point they struggled to hand change over, never feeling they had got it right. They worked in retail and the problems began at work. Our client came to us for help when their safety checking behaviours were negatively impacting their work and their personal life and relationships. They are there to reduce the distress of the thought, or to avoid or be distracted from the thought. Intrusive thoughts lead to behaviours which set to neutralise the thoughts they can often be seen as the safety-seeking behaviours we discussed in our previous blog. These usually centre around the idea or possibility of causing harm to oneself and/or to others and are so upsetting that the person develops a compulsive behaviour in an effort to neutralise the thought(s). However, someone with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder will have repeated, intrusive thoughts which are unwelcome and unpleasant. It’s like trains passing through the station, some fly through without stopping, others stop for a moment before moving on again. Worry, random ideas popping into our heads, repeating the same thoughts over and over - these are all things that happen to everyone. If you come to Impossible Mental Health for help or treatment, your story will never be told here unless you give your express permission for us to share it.ĭid you know most of us have between 12,000 and 16,000 thoughts every day? A study by the National Science Foundation found that, of those thousands of thoughts, around 80% are negative and 95% are the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. Anything that could possibly identify the person has been removed from this article and the client has given permission for their story to be told in the hope it may help others. As always, we remind you that we are legally and professionally bound by strict confidentiality rules. To illustrate what a profound impact OCD can have on a person’s life, we present here another real-life case study from one of our clients. To say that you or someone else is “a bit OCD” when you’re not really, is doing a disservice to those who live with this very real - but very treatable disorder.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and there are many different ways that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can show up in a person’s life. It presents as unusual behaviours, often involving safety or cleanliness, such as frequent handwashing, repeatedly checking light switches and door locks, or scrubbing and bleaching an already-clean house.

Fear of diorder or tidiness