My OCD doesn't seem to fit the stereotypes. Are there different types of OCD?

Good question! OCD can present in many different ways. Obsessions are usually unwelcome and disrupt your daily life, while Compulsions are actions you feel you must do in specific ways as a response to obsessions. Because of our dynamic, multi-faceted experiences as humans, this can look different for each person. It could be hoarding, over organizing, excessive cleaning, or even things like invasive taboo thoughts. Symptoms can vary widely and some may overlap with others, weaving complex patterns. It sounds like you have an awareness about yourself that creates an excellent ground to explore this further with your mental healthcare provider. It could help in the meantime to keep a journal about your experiences, detailing the behaviour specifically as well as your experience of it (how did it make you feel? how long did it last? what thoughts were circulating at the time? etc). Documenting these things could help you determine the right plan of action moving forward. You are doing great, good luck :)

There are many different types of OCD. This is what makes this, diagnosing, and treating these disorders extremely challenging for people in the medical domain. SUD, substance-use disorder, with stimulant qualities can look like BP1, Bi-Polar 1, I have had many different diagnosis in my life. First part is to be honest with your provider is a experiential productive and efficient first step to maintain. I have had previous Psychiatrists diagnose me and then my current Psychiatrist nullified those prior claims. To this day, I still have a mood-disorder rule out and have not gotten much insight or closure to what might be going on with that. So I believe and even experientially know that there are different types of OCD or other similar disorders and because it doesn't fit the uneducated perspectives of those that don't face or understand it that does not make me any less safe, worthy etc.

For one thing, OCD is made up of 3 letters. The stereotype is C or compulsion: being a neat freak. The O in OCD stands for obsession, which has less to do with behavior and tends to be less visible. There are different types of OCD, such as those relating to germ contamination (compulsion), "just right" (compulsion), counting and ritual (compulsion), religion and morality, sexuality, and harm. It's best to look these up on a search engine such as Google or DuckDuckGo, but an example of an obsession is thoughts about harming or being attracted to someone, while an example of a compulsion is staying away from that person or keeping knives stored away,

Absolutely there are different types. It's not all just about obsessive hand washing or counting to a specific number each time. OCD can in broader categories relate to harm, relationship, religion, contamination. Your direct experience of OCD could simply put be that you experience obsessions about something you either care about deeply or which concerns you a lot, and perform compulsions such as verbal, physical or even mental rituals to prevent the worst from happening and relieve the anxiety, but not for long as this only perpetuates the cycle. I recommend having a little browse online/watching some youtube videos to gain more insight into just have wide-ranging the topics and characteristics of the OCD experience can be. Wish you all the best in your discoveries and in getting better.

OCD is a spectrum as with many other issues of the type, there shouldn't be a "stereotype" for what OCD looks like as it is never going to be the same for everyone. There are several different forms of OCD, referring back to how it is a spectrum. In all honesty, it doesn't matter if your OCD doesn't fit the so called stereotype. However, in the case that you haven't been professionally diagnosed with OCD then you might not have OCD and have something else instead, so just keep that in mind , but remember this is only if you weren't professionally diagnosed!

Yes there are many subtypes of OCD that don’t necessarily involve the stereotypical hand washing or counting. OCD is about intrusive thoughts and compulsions around those thoughts. The thoughts are often distressing and go against the sufferers values. If you find yourself having obsessive thoughts about any subject that result in compulsive behaviors or mental compulsions you should seek a professional opinion about OCD. OCD can be successfully treated with cbt and the gold standard of OCD therapy called erp and the good news is that these therapies work for all subtypes of ocd regardless of the theme or intensity.

There are actually lots of types of OCD and many don't fit what you might think of as stereotypical OCD. I have lived experience with OCD and also found it hard to connect with the stereotypes. There's a brief OCD guide on 7 Cups that shares some different ways OCD can be experienced but it's very different depending on who is experiencing it https://www.7cups.com/ocd/ I hope it's helpful to review that! And remember: everyone's experience is unique. Just because you don't fit a stereotype doesn't mean you aren't valid in your experience. If you find yourself wanting more support, feel free to reach out to a listener or group support chat!

The more common OCD subtypes are the ones involving a preoccupation with avoidance behaviours related to fear of germs or bacteria. Other types of OCD which involved ritualised behaviours, intrusive, compulsive thoughts could be Symmetry OCD where you could feel really uncomfortable if things are not in the right order or structure (e.g. You could find it really off-putting and distressing when things aren’t put in the right place or order in your house), Checking OCD (This is a compulsive behaviour to check for reassurance, belief that counting behaviours have significance in how someone feels about you (e.g. The more texts I receive from my significant other the more this proves they love me), and accepting decisions only if the information is very detailed. Some types of OCD involve rumination and intrusive thoughts (e.g. fears of coming off socially inappropriate, fears of your sexual orientation, unwanted thoughts of harming oneself or others, unwanted thoughts and images that are sexual). Every presentation of a condition will be very unique to the individual experiencing it: It could be appearance-related, work-related, etiquette-related. The reasons behind the rituals tend to be to avoid the feeling of the anxiety. It maybe helpful to seek further information form sites such as OCD-UK, Medical News Today. You are also welcome to communicate with any one of our listeners 1-1 for emotional support.