Online OCD Test

Thank you for taking our OCD test! Below is a little bit more information about this disorder as well as links to mental health professionals who can help you.

What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, is a mental health condition that causes a person to have a pattern of unwanted thoughts and/or fears, called obsessions, that lead you to do repetitive behaviors, or compulsions. These patterns of obsessions and compulsions interfere with a patient's daily activities and can cause significant distress and anxiety.

OCD is a vicious cycle of unwanted thoughts that cause you to create ritualistic behaviors and are very difficult to stop. An example would be a person who is greatly afraid of bacteria, so they wash their hands ritualistically often to the point of pain and beyond. OCD can also cause great shame, and is often linked to other mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

According to the International OCD foundation:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is not only one of the most common psychological disorders, it is also among the most personally distressing, and disabling. OCD can be devastating to interpersonal relationships, leisure activities, school or work functioning, and to general life satisfaction.  Not surprisingly, OCD is commonly associated with depression.  After all, OCD is a depressing problem and it is easy to understand how one could develop clinical depression when your daily life consists of unwanted thoughts and urges to engage in senseless and excessive behaviors (rituals).

Do I Have OCD? DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for OCD

According to psychiatry.org, OCD affects between 2 to 3% of people in the United States. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), or DSM-5, outlines that a person must meet the following criteria to be diagnosed with OCD:

Presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both:

Obsessions are defined by (1) and (2):

1. Recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or impulses that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in most individuals cause marked anxiety or distress.

2.The individual attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, urges, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action (i.e., by performing a compulsion).

Compulsions are defined by (1) and (2):

1. Repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

2.The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or distress, or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent, or are clearly excessive.

Note: Young children may not be able to articulate the aims of these behaviors or mental acts.

B. The obsessions or compulsions are time-consuming (e.g., take more than 1 hour per day) or cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

C. The obsessive-compulsive symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition.

D. The disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., excessive worries, as in generalized anxiety disorder; preoccupation with appearance, as in body dysmorphic disorder; difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, as in hoarding disorder; hair pulling, as in trichotillomania [hair-pulling disorder]; skin picking, as in excoriation [skin-picking] disorder; stereotypies, as in stereotypic movement disorder; ritualized eating behavior, as in eating disorders; preoccupation with substances or gambling, as in substance-related and addictive disorders; preoccupation with having an illness, as in illness anxiety disorder; sexual urges or fantasies, as in paraphilic disorders; impulses, as in disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders; guilty ruminations, as in major depressive disorder; thought insertion or delusional preoccupations, as in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders; or repetitive patterns of behavior, as in autism spectrum disorder).

Getting OCD Treatment

OCD can sometimes be difficult to diagnose because symptoms are similar to other mental health disorders. If you or a loved one feel trapped by the disabling side effects of OCD, professionals are available to help.

If you need help, there is hope! Reach out to a licensed mental health professional that treats OCD.