Doesn’t everyone think like this?

Is it OCD?

It is very common for kids to count lampposts as their car drives past them, to have rituals about walking on cracks in the sidewalk or to organize their toys by colors and to become pretty upset when their activities get disrupted. Because these thoughts have been around for as long as people can remember, they often don’t know that what is going on their heads is a bit different from what is going on in other people’s heads although intrusive, repetitive thoughts generally are not uncommon and not pathological if they don’t cause distress or take up a lot of time.

When these thoughts are paired with rituals that other people can observe then people often realize that some level of OCD might be going on, however, when people don’t experience rituals and just have the thoughts and images (or sometimes just a feeling) or their rituals are more hidden (internal monitoring) or socially acceptable (googling and reassurance seeking) OCD can be hidden.

OCD can also be hidden when people experience thoughts and images that they are ashamed to share with other people. Intrusive thoughts about wanting to harm themselves or others are incredibly distressing and people fear getting in trouble or being hospitalized if they tell others what they are going through.

Thoughts and images related to sexual orientation are also often kept hidden from others because people fear social ostracization or are confused and anxious about what these thoughts mean when they are incongruent with their felt sense of identity.

Sometimes just being told by a mental health professional that an experience has a name can be soothing but there are also multiple modalities that can be used to treat OCD. Checking in with a knowledgable PMHNP about your symptoms and getting an overview with recommendations about next steps