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

Everybody is different so symptoms of anything will be different from person to person. There are no set guidelines for any mental health condition. There are many different types of OCD which present in different ways.

There are many types of OCD. Cleaning is one of the biggest stereotypes but in fact OCD is an obsession and a compulsion. For example it could be obsessing over a bad thought such as 'my family will die if i dont touch the floor', starting the compulsion (to touch the floor. This is still only a small section of OCD. Do some research or look on the 7cups website about OCD.

There are definitely other types of OCD than just the stereotype which obsessively cleans their hands in fear of contamination. All types of OCD however, can be described in terms of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are the worries and intrusive thoughts/images which come to mind in situations which trigger us; or just at random, whereas compulsions are the ritualistic behaviours/thoughts which OCD causes us to perform as an unhealthy coping mechanism to relieve the anxiety induced by the obsession. Types of OCD include harm related, sexual, religious, relationship and many more. OCD can be perceived as a biological tendency which can latch onto any concept in our life, big or small. For example, someone with OCD tendencies can develop obsessions and in turn compulsions related to the recent death of a relative, a new partner and associated fears of being hurt, or even fears and obsessions of hurting ourselves or others. OCD causes an individual to experience extreme obsessive worries about a concept or situation and then feel the need to perform a behaviour or think/say something in order to relieve the fear/anxiety or to prevent something bad from happening. It's not so much about the topic which our OCD concerns, but more about the mechanism of OCD which is pretty much the same across the spectrum of topics which it could relate to. As a result, the most important part is to address the dysfunctional beliefs, obsessions and behaviours.

There are many types of OCD out there. Do not worry if your OCD does not line up with the other “stereotypes” of individuals who experience OCD. To find all of the different types of OCD, I would suggest using this link to see them. The link: https://www.ocduk.org/types-ocd To conclude, there are many types of OCD out there, so if yours doesn’t align with someone else’s, chances are it lines up with another type.

There are plenty of different types of OCD! If you are obsessing over a thought, no matter what it is, and it's causing you serious distress and anxiety, that is considered OCD. The stress and anxiety leads into doing a compulsive behavior which relieves the anxiety for a short period of time but ends up just repeating the OCD cycle. Just because it doesn't fit the 'stereotype' doesn't mean that you aren't suffering! Hope this clears some stuff up.

Yes, no one fits perfectly into a stereotype or mental illness exactly and that is okay. You can have different severity of OCD.

Yes. There are OCDs that aren't physical, but all in your thoughts. This OCD is normally called Pure O.

There are many different ways in which OCD manifests. The two main parts of the disorder are having obsessions that lead to compulsive behaviors, but the types of obsessive thoughts and rituals that follow can vary greatly.

Many. Everyone has different obsessions / compulsions too. Not everyone is alike when it comes to having OCD

Yes many. I experienced postnatal OCD which displayed as intrusive thoughts of harming my baby. I was so fearful of being the one to hurt him that it caused mental illness. Not all OCDs are obsessive cleaning.