People who experience OCD get stuck in a vicious cycle.

In order to reduce the anxiety stemming from obsessions or intrusive thoughts, people with OCD feel the need to take part in a compulsion to confirm or ensure safety. Obsessions and compulsions can vary widely depending on the type of OCD a person presents with.

To illustrate the concept of the OCD cycle, let’s use the example of “checking compulsions”. Checking compulsions might include frequently checking that the oven is turned off, that the front door is locked or that a hair straightener has been unplugged. Checking behaviors are incredibly common in OCD and often accompany obsessions about losing safety such as a home invasion, burning your house down, or other disasters.

If I have an obsession or frequent intrusive thought that someone may break into my home, I likely experience a surge in anxiety. This anxiety is likely so intolerable to me that I will do anything to avoid it. So how do I avoid it? I attempt to give myself some control of the situation by checking the lock on my front door. This in and of itself is a fairly normative behavior. However if I have OCD these thoughts likely come up so frequently that they get in the way of my functioning or my ability to live a fulfilling life. I may be getting up in the middle of the night to check my lock. I may leave social engagements early to make sure I remembered to lock my door, or I might start taking photos of my lock to remind myself I did in fact lock my door. However, the temporary reduction in anxiety that “checking” affords me will not last long.

No amount of checking will ever satisfy OCD.

The desire to complete compulsions will continue to grow the more I give in until it slowly starts impacting my functioning more and more. Unfortunately, the avoidance of anxiety, and illusion of control only causes your brain to be even more certain that danger is lurking every time you have an uncomfortable thought. The rituals will never satisfy your desire to be anxiety free, and they will often become more elaborate and more time consuming when left untreated. People who experience OCD often report their obsessions and compulsions are getting in the way of fulfilling relationships, self care, and their work life.