(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Hey, Psych2Goers. Welcome back to our channel. We wanted to let you know that each and every one of your
comments, likes, and shares, helps support this channel and
our goal to spread awareness about psychology and mental health. You help us make psychology and mental health more
accessible to everyone. So, thank you so much for your support. Before we begin, we would
also like to remind you that this video is for
educational purposes only, and is not intended to
be used as a diagnosis. So please do not self-diagnose. If you suspect you or
someone else might have OCD, we advise you to seek professional help. With that said, let's continue. Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is a mental illness that
is exhibited by repetitive, unwanted, or intrusive thoughts. The obsessions. Often followed by an urge
to do something repeatedly. The compulsions. It is a very serious mental illness that causes a great deal of
suffering to those who have it. But did you know that there
can be many different ways in which OCD manifests itself to help you get a better
understanding of OCD? Here are four different types
of OCD and how they manifest. Number one, Intrusive
Thoughts and Ruminations. When someone with OCD suffers
from intrusive thoughts, it's not the occasional
disturbing thought now and then, it can be normal for people
to have an intrusive thought as they go about their day. They may think of something worrisome or unpleasant and brush the thought aside. With OCD, it's a different story. When someone with OCD
has intrusive thoughts, they're repetitive and often constant. They can obsess on the thought
for minutes or even hours. These thoughts can range
in topic and be anything, but some common ones are:
violent intrusive thoughts, which involve a fear of harming
yourself or a loved one, sexual intrusive thoughts, which can involve unwanted thoughts of causing sexual harm to someone or obsessively questioning
one's sexuality. And others can involve
obsessions on religion and the fear of committing sin, analyzing one's relationship excessively, and magical thinking intrusive thoughts, in which one fears that
simply thinking about thought can make it more likely to happen. These thoughts are often
followed by rituals or compulsion in order to make the bad thing not happen, or to simply assure oneself that they don't feel a certain
way about a negative thought. Ruminations in OCD are when
one dwells upon a question or a theme that is unproductive
and likely to lead nowhere, dwelled upon for an
excessive amount of time, more than your average philosopher. These are often different
from intrusive thoughts, as they can be indulged
in rather than resisted. Someone with OCD may excessively ruminate about life after death, visualizing every scenario to the detail, leaving them detached and preoccupied from what is going on around them as they're attending to
the thoughts in their mind. Number two, Checking. OCD can present itself in the
need to check on something. This act as the compulsion. Checking is often enacted out of a fear of something bad will
happen such as a fire, a burglary, or harm to loved ones. This can display itself
in a variety of ways. Someone may check in
with their family members to gain reassurance about their fears, or maybe they feel an unrelenting need to check the door repeatedly
to make sure it's locked out of fear of a burglary. Someone with OCD may even
try to recall past memories to make sure they felt a certain way or didn't cause someone harm. For example, someone
with OCD may be obsessing on their thoughts,
questioning their sexuality. When they know outside of the obsessing, what their sexual preference
is, the individual may check or pay attention to
their body for arousal. But because they're focused
on not wanting this response, the body may automatically
generate feelings of arousal. As research has shown, our bodies often react to
what is actually relevant, and not always what we desire and value. Or, another example, someone with those CD may check an email they've
written over and over, analyzing for any imperfections, and fear they may have
written something wrong or will offend someone. Could you imagine writing
an email to your boss only to check it for minutes on end, all due to a fear you may
have written something that could come across as inappropriate, and therefore lose your job as a result. We all generally need our jobs. So while this fear may seem to derive from an irrational place, those checking their email
for the hundredth time are often afraid of losing
something important to them. This is a common fear for
those suffering from OCD. In the sense that they love
or value something so much, they will strongly feel the need to act out these compulsions to
protect what they love. And since what you love and value can often change in your life, OCD will grab a hold of what it is you're enjoying and valuing, and try to manipulate
it inside of you mind according to your fears. This is one of the many
dark features of OCD. Number three, Contamination
or Mental Contamination. Among those with OCD, there are generally two types
of contamination obsessions. One is simply labeled as contamination. Contamination is often
characterized by the strong fear of being dirty or contracting
germs from objects or people. Someone may not like to shake hands as they have an obsession
with contracting a virus from someone else, or someone may be excessively
brushing their teeth or scrubbing their hands
for minutes on end, out of fear of not feeling clean enough or feeling just right. A lot of physical damage can
occur due to these compulsions. Mental contamination is an area of OCD researchers are just
recently starting to get an understanding of. It can be evoked when someone feels as if they've been treated badly, or if someone says an
abusive remark to them. The person will engage in compulsions to wash away this bad feeling, such as showering or acting
out other compulsions. And number four, Symmetry and Orderliness. This type of OCD manifests
in different ways, such as organizing one's books or DVDs, making sure everything is neat, or clothes folded perfectly
and hanging the same way. While a lot of us may
simply like symmetry, but those with OCD focused
on symmetry and order are obsessed about it and
did not gain any enjoyment out of organizing to
ensure it feels just right. Remember, what may look
organized and clean to someone who doesn't have OCD, may feel wrong to someone with OCD, because it's about the feeling. Logically, they know their
books are neatly stacked and their closet is fairly organized, but they can't shake the strong feeling that it isn't just right. This feeling may even pester
them throughout the entire day, which is why they so
strongly feel the need to act out the compulsion. With OCD, the compulsion often
only provides relief for, often, literally a second. The thoughts and
obsessions play on a loop, leaving a repetitive cycle, and compulsions are an urge
to simply be free of fear, and, if for only just a
second, to feel right. Fortunately, there is good
news and hope in some of this. There are therapists who do understand and specialize in treating OCD. Some of those affected by OCD
have seen productive results through cognitive behavioral therapy from a therapist who does
understand the condition. If you suspect you or
someone else may have OCD, we highly recommend you
seek professional help. So, do you now understand
OCD a little bit more? Thanks for watching and learning
more about mental illness and psychology, Psych2Goers. Did you learn something new about OCD? Are you or someone you
know diagnosed with OCD? Feel free to share with us in the comments and engage with others who may suffer from the same type as you. It can help to understand
your mental illness more, and make you feel less
alone in the process, because you're not alone, no matter what you're going through. A bit of support could be the first step into feeling just a little bit better. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to click the like button and share it with someone
who might need it. Subscribed to Psych2Go and
hit the notification bell icon for more content like this, and as always, thanks for watching.
