OCD Therapy Going Nowhere?

Although any medical doctor can take your blood pressure, only a few can do heart surgery. Likewise, any therapist can help someone who is feeling a bit blue, but only a few can effectively treat OCD. OCD treatment is a type of therapy that requires a specialized protocol called Exposure and Ritual Prevention (ERP or EX/RP). Learn about the Top Mistakes Made by OCD Therapists.

Top Seven Myths About OCD

One stereotype is that people with OCD are neat and tidy to a fault. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Although many people with OCD wash because they are concerned about dirt and germs, being tidy is actually not a typical symptom of the disorder. Almost two-thirds of people with OCD are also hoarders... Learn more about the Top Myths about OCD.

Homosexual Fears in OCD

Sexuality Concerns in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

There are many people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who have sexual obsessions surrounding homosexuality. Homosexuality anxiety is a recognized symptom of OCD, sometimes referred to as "HOCD."

HOCD includes the following:

  • the obsessive fear of being or becoming homosexual
  • the experience of intrusive, unwanted mental images of homosexual behavior, and/or
  • the obsessive fear that others may believe one is homosexual.

A person may have only one of these facets of the disorder or a combination. Learn more about sexual obsessions in OCD.

Take The OCD Self Test

The OCI-R is a short, reliable, scientific test of common obsessive-compulsive symptoms. This measure was developed by OCD experts. Take our OCD Self Test.

About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Hoarding & Saving

People with OCD often have concerns that lead to hoarding, compulsive collecting, and excessive shopping. The obsessions experienced by hoarders include fears of losing items which may be needed later. Most hoarders have exaggerated beliefs about the importance of items, and are thus excessively attached to their possessions.

Hoarders may have difficulties with decision-making, as they worry about discarding things that might be needed later. Typically they can't decide what to keep or how to organize it, so they end up keep ing everything. They may plan to clean up, but the impossible desire to clean and organize everything perfectly only results in procrastination. Thus the hoarder will make excuses to avoid dealing with the overwheling mess.

There are some important differences between hoarding and other types of OCD, which have lead many researchers to conclude that hoarding is actually a separate disorder. Unlike individuals with other OCD symptoms, hoarders tend to have fewer intrusive thoughts about possessions and fewer urges to perform rituals. Distress may only becomes prominent when faced with the prospect of losing their possessions. Due to these differences, it is currently being recommended that hoarding be reclassified as a separate OC spectrum disorder.

Hoarders are not to be confused with collectors. Hoarders are not people who simply like to collect things, such as baseball cards or stamps, as most of the hoarded items are not particularly valuable. Hoarding is not simply saving sentimental objects, although the hoarder may attach excessive sentiments to worthless items.