Do You Have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Below are some questions for you to answer. Although this is not a substitute for talking with a mental health professional, you’ll get an idea if this is an area you might need to address.
1. Do you experience obsessions, as defined below:
recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and cause a great deal of distress.
the thoughts are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems
the thoughts are extremely difficult to ignore or suppress
2. Do you experience compulsions, as defined below?
repetitive behaviors, such as hand washing or checking, that you feel driven to do in response to the obsession
the compulsions are aimed to reduce distress or prevent some dreaded event from happening, and are clearly excessive
3. Do you spend a significant amount of time dealing with your obsessions and compulsions (more than an hour per day)? Or, do your obsessions and compulsions interfere with your day-to-day functioning and relationships?
If you answered yes to each of the above questions, you may have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
RESOURCES
For more information about OCD, visit the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.
I was interviewed by Insider’s online magazine for this article:
5 Myths about OCD We Need to Stop Believing
LOCAL anxiety TREATMENt for OCD IN ST. LOUIS, MO WITH PSYCHOLOGIST, BARBARA MARKWAY, PH.D.
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