The different types of OCD

Obsessions and compulsions usually go hand in hand, although sometimes there are only the obsessions (being homosexual, harming oneself and/or someone else, being possessed by a demon, etc.), which vary from moment to moment and take the form of obsessive doubts, or that only compulsions are present. So these are persistent thoughts and/or recurring impulses and images. In distinguishing between these problems, we first recognize fear-based OCD The former are experienced as annoying, considered intrusive and unwanted. The person suffering from it tries to ignore or suppress these thoughts, impulses or images, to neutralize them by another mental activity (prayers, counting, formulas, sentences or words repeated in a low voice or in the mind) or by a other behavior (washing, putting away, checking). These mental activities or behaviors, put in place to silence fear, generally have the function of propitiating or preventing something from happening or not happening, or even of repairing, of making up for what has happened. Let's see how OCD works.

The most common OCD 

“Checking” or “Controlling” 

“Checking” or “Controlling” is a patient who attempts to quell fearful thoughts through repeated checking (compulsion); for example, he checks several times: that he has closed the front door, the gas; that he has followed all the steps of a procedure, his physiological needs by going to the toilet, checking the places he intends to go, etc. But it's like he's communicating to himself that he's unreliable.  

The perfectionist

The perfectionist is the one who is obsessed with order, with the fear of making mistakes. He has a mental order, an idea of ​​perfection that he tries to pursue, but every time he thinks he has achieved the ideal, he realizes that he can do better, so he starts tidying up again, correcting , etc. They believe they can achieve perfection, that's why they suffer when they realize they can't, they feel condemned.

The Contaminant/Contaminated

The Contaminant/Contaminated, the one who, for fear of being or being able to be contaminated and/or being contaminated, or even being able to contaminate objects, people by bacteria, germs, radiation, diseases, etc. needs to put rituals in place. Fear of contamination can manifest through contact, proximity or even "magical" means (for example, becoming negative if you approach a person you don't like, or even if we touch something of that person, or defile their soul if we hear certain words, etc.) People suffering from this type of OCD, when they experience this feeling, feel obliged to wash themselves (the hands, body, objects, etc.) in a certain way, and/or require others to do so as well.    

A disorder based on pathological pleasure

As we have already mentioned, this disorder can be pleasure-based. This is the case when the patient manages to benefit from his problem, from which the cohabitants also subsequently suffer. Family members, to protect, reassure, etc., ready to do anything, become victims and, in a certain way, submit to the parent's symptomatology.

OCD and addictions

We can also include in OCD linked to pleasure pathologies that have been included in other diagnostic categories, such as addictions with and without substances, narcissism, forms of self-mutilation.

Addiction concerns those who believe they can control what they consume or what they do (substance, object or behavior). The fact of feeling bad in the absence of what one consumed concludes with dependence: suffering is determined by abstinence: it is the substantial symptom of dependence.  

They repeat the use of certain substances, objects, people, behaviors, to the point of becoming dependent on them, those who, thanks to them, obtain what they seek: success, power, control, comfort, etc.

When we cannot do without substances harmful to the body (drugs and alcohol), we speak of drug addiction. Not being able to do without devices or the internet raises the hypothesis of an addiction to new technologies. We can become addicted to certain compulsive behaviors, such as shopping, games, sex, work, self-harm in its different forms (trichotillomania, forms of sadomasochism, dysmorphia, etc.)  

When the "me", the person, becomes the only paradigm to which he refers and depending on this, he exercises control/power over a person perceived as weak, by victimizing him, by mistreating him, by disqualifying him, by denigrating her and, in the extreme, by verbally and physically abusing her, we find ourselves in the presence of a tyrant and/or a narcissistic personality, in the case where the victim is the "beloved" person.     

OCD and obsessions

As for obsessions , they often take the form of doubts. The most frequent pathological doubts concern: sexual identity, religiosity, dangerousness for oneself and/or for others. In these cases, a doubt, a question, which may be legitimate, becomes intrusive and causes suffering. The person, trying to get rid of obsessive doubt , pays attention to this thought. As a result, she cannot get rid of it (a vicious circle is formed: to get rid of it, we think of this thought). It becomes the confirmation of what we believe, which coincides with what we fear to be or to become.

Training in brief systemic and strategic therapy 

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