Pure-O Manifestation of OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, has gotten a lot of attention over the last decade or two, but because there are so many manifestations of the disorder, many symptoms have gone unnoticed or underreported.

Authors and the media tend to center on "checkers," "counters" and "washers." These are among the more well-known types of OCD, the easiest to see, and the bizarre resulting behavior adds to the sensational elements most attractive to the media and public. But there are a number of other types of this disorder which aren't as well known, yet the affect many OCD sufferers just as much as the more familiar types. These sufferers don't get as much public attention perhaps because many of them experience their disorder in silence and unnoticed. There is nothing they do to outwardly call attention to themselves or warrant media attention.

With OCD, the sufferer experiences an obsession (the out-of-place thought) and reacts with a compulsion (acting on the obsession). A "checker" fears he hasn't locked a door and must check it repeatedly; a "washer" fears germs and is continually trying to get rid of them. At the root of these compulsions is the feeling that "something bad will happen" if they don't complete them.

The "checker" starts off with a reasonable concern: she didn't turn off the iron before leaving the house. She goes back and checks to make sure it's off so that it doesn't start a house fire. But that's where the OCD sufferer (the "O/C") departs from the normal person. The O/C will keep checking the iron, fearing that they missed something before, or they might have accidentally turned it back on. Even though reasonable thought tells them they have turned it off, they just aren't comfortable and can't accept that everything is really okay. And yes, O/C sufferers are usually painfully aware that they have the disorder and what it does, but it doesn't stop them - or they wouldn't have OCD.