OCD: Understanding Obsessions

Video Transcript

"In this clip we'll talk about some of the symptoms of OCD. Since the symptoms of OCD can vary they're usually broken down into obsessions or compulsions. The two are not mutually exclusive, but first we'll talk about obsessions. Obsessions are thoughts, images or impulses that reoccur over and over in an individual's mind. The person usually doesn't like these thoughts and finds them to be distressing and sometimes even very disturbing. What the person wants is for these things and these thoughts, that even though they know might not be logical or make any sense whatsoever to them, to go away. Some of these thoughts and obsessions can be focusing on germs. A fear of germs and wanting to be clean to the point that they might not touch door handles. They might not touch other people. They might have to continually wipe down whatever it is they're using. There can be fear of causing harm to another person. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of being embarrassed, but this goes beyond the basic fear that you and I might have on a daily basis. This goes to the point where it prevents them from actually doing whatever they would be doing in their daily life and can cause a really, really big disturbance in their life and lead to very, very, very high levels of anxiety."