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

Yes there are different types of OCD. A lot of people just seem to think that it's cleaning and liking things organised, when in reality it's a lot deeper than that. It can be irrational thoughts, obsessing over external things or obsessing over your health, body, family health. It can also present as a lot of physical symptoms rather than just things you think, such as fast heart beat, picking at skin, dizziness etc. If you're unsure, there are lots of self help guides that can help you to identify which type best fits your 'symptoms' and from there, whats the best path to find help on!

Yes! I also have OCD, and sometimes it "fits the stereotypes" and at other times it doesn't. I have pretty bad germophobia, which is definitely stereotypical; meanwhile I get anxious at heights because I'm afraid of losing bodily control and throwing myself off - not as stereotypical. However, a lot of exercises for OCD translate to less-stereotypical symptoms - at least, they have for me! I've also found that sometimes talking about the less-stereotypical symptoms with a therapist is even more helpful than talking about the stereotypical ones, because often the stuff that no one else talks about is the stuff you don't realize bugs you. It's okay to have anxieties and symptoms that don't fit a rigid definition of OCD or of any anxiety disorder - you can still find the help and support you may need!

OCD is very diverse, and most people with OCD don’t fit into the stereotypes persona. The main common trait is a cycle of feeling anxious about something minor, and then compulsively doing something to prevent this. You might feel like you have to do this compulsive action to stop feeling anxious. Usually, people will get relief from their action, however the feeling of relief doesn’t last very long, and you start to feel anxious again, restarting the cycle. I’m basic, the answer to your question is yes, OCD can affect people in lots of different ways, so don’t worry about not fitting the stereotype.

There are a variety of types of OCD. Some of the main types of OCD are: intrusive thoughts, checking, contamination, ruminations, and hoarding. However, there are other ticks or symptoms you could have that would be linked towards other types. Compulsions come in all types and forms. It all depends on a persons genetics, environment, and brain structure. There are many unrecognizable forms of OCD that individuals aren't able to recognize in themselves due to the stereotypes seen through social media. One of the biggest stereotypes is needing everything to be perfectly clean and repetitively cleaning your hands. I'm not stating that people don't experience this, I know people who struggle with this. I do. But there are more forms of OCD than this.

Yes! There are multiple types of OCD and OCPD! You can learn more about them right on google or find a variety of books on them as well. If you are in therapy for it, you could have them explain more about it too! I grew up with and around multiple kinds of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and personality disorders and there are things that go so beyond the “more common” stereotypes. There are intrusive thoughts, repetitive rituals, contamination fears, physical ticks, hoarding/collecting, number obsessions. It’s not all just wanting things to be insanely organized and/or spotless. There is just so much to it.

There are infinite types of OCD, it can impact on any thought, on any subject, on any person, on any fear, and frequently fixates on what’s important in a person’s life. For example, if religion is important to someone, OCD fixates on unwanted intrusive thoughts around religion, perhaps making the sufferer believe their actions/thoughts will offend their god. Another example is if someone begins a new relationship, OCD can make a person question that relationship, their feelings, their sexuality resulting in almost constant rumination, perhaps with the sufferer worrying that they may be misleading their partner. Although there are infinite forms of OCD, it has been traditionally considered that a person’s OCD will fall into one of these five main categories, with themes often overlapping between categories too. Checking Contamination / Mental Contamination Symmetry and ordering Ruminations / Intrusive Thoughts Hoarding * Hoarding is included in the list above and may be an OCD compulsion, if it is for obvious obsessive reasons. However, some aspects of hoarding are no longer considered to be OCD and may be a separate condition altogether. We look more at hoarding in the related disorders section of the website.

Indeed there are! Having OCD means one tends to have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that makes one feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions). Although people tend to think of OCD as a person repetitively washing their hands, or turning on and off a light switch, it can really be anything at all. In a sense, there's an infinite amount of different forms of OCD. It is vastly considered that different forms of OCD tend to fall into one of these 5 categories, namely checking, contamination, symmetry and order, rumination, or hoarding. So yes, your type of OCD can look nothing like the other person's, and vice versa.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can manifest in many different ways. You must have obsessions OR compulsions (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 5th edition) that affect your daily life significantly. That includes a very broad range of symptoms that you can have. It can manifest in obsessive and intrusive thoughts, excessive checking and counting and repeating things aloud, etc. Lots of people believe that folks with OCD are just super tidy and clean, but that isn’t the case. It can be the case, but not every person with OCD has the specific compulsion to wash their hands more than once or keep their room spot free. It is very individualistic. For me, I have compulsions where I lock the door a certain amount of times before my brain is satisfied, make sure the light switch is in the position that I like it before leaving the room, checking that the sink is not on when I leave the bathroom, things like that. I will stand there and check and lock and count over and over and over. So don’t feel odd, OCD is very different for every person suffering.

There might be different types of OCD as it is true with every kind of mental health issue (illness, disorder). As every person is different, every person can have different symptoms and it is what makes mental health issues hard to diagnose by psychiatrists and even harder to administer correct and appropriate meds to heal or treat it. It is why mental health issues are often misdiagnosed as something else - for example, someone with untypical depression can be diagnosed as someone with another mental health issue (anxiety disorder for example). In medicine nothing is 100 % certain. I hope that i explained it to you.

Yes! OCD stands for 'Obsessive Compulsive Disorder'. The stereotype of OCD being only about cleaning or being a germaphobe is a harmful stereotype. OCD is a disorder that has many forms and types. Please consult the person that diagnosed you if you're wondering what type you have, and how to treat it. If you feel as if OCD is the wrong diagnosis, please talk to your care provider before going off medication, and trust your therapist. If anyone is telling you that your diagnosis is wrong because you don't display the stereotypical symptoms, they are wrong. Please listen to your care provider.