We’ve all heard of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It’s quite common for people to accuse others of being OCD if they consider them overly neat and tidy or list-driven.
In fact, OCD is an anxiety disorder that will affect about 3% of the population sometime during their lifetime. Despite media portrayals that show that people with OCD love to clean, they don’t. They clean and neaten up compulsively because they have to. People with OCD can’t control their actions or their mental activity for any length of time. It can severely impact their daily lives.
It manifests in a number of different ways. People with OCD have recurring, intrusive thoughts. They will follow through with ritualistic behavior and obsessions. They may become compulsive hoarders, repeatedly check that the doors are locked, or obsessively tidy their kitchen cupboards.
The television renditions of OCD maybe a little over the top and often the disorder is a lot more subtle than shown on the sitcoms. People with OCD may have a habit of repeatedly checking on some aspect of their lives. The most common of the compulsions include counting things and hand washing.
Although the infographic illustrates five different categories of OCD, people with the disorder may have any combination of the compulsions.