Anxiety Disorders Center:  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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Click here if you would like information about a current study of compulsive hoarding being conducted by the Anxiety Disorders Center.  Note: This study is only available to people who live within a 30-minute drive from Hartford or Boston.

People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) suffer from persistent and recurring thoughts or "obsessions" that they find very disturbing. These thoughts typically reflect exaggerated anxiety or unrealistic fears. Sometimes people are aware that their fears are irrational, but often they are not certain.

There are many obsessions, among the most common of which are: 

• Fear of being dirty or contaminated
• Fear of making mistakes
• Fear of harming one’s self or others
• Fear of being responsible for an accident or disaster
• Fear of imperfection

To cope with the distress that accompanies obsessions, people with OCD feel compelled to perform "compulsions," behaviors (or mental acts) that seem to prevent a feared catastrophe or in other ways bring relief. The relief is only temporary, however, and people with OCD usually fall into a pattern of repeatedly performing a particular compulsion.

Some common compulsions are:

• Excessive washing or cleaning
• Checking for safety or for mistakes
• Repeating everyday actions until they feel "perfect"
• Arranging objects in a particular way
• Counting or praying in a rigid, repetitive manner
• "Hoarding," or saving unnecessary objects

Do you have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?	Print this questionnaire
Do you experience recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images?	YES	NO
Do the thoughts, impulses, or images seem intrusive and inappropriate?	YES	NO
Do the thoughts, impulses, or images cause you to feel very anxious or distressed?	YES	NO
Do you try to ignore or suppress the thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action?	YES	NO
Do the thoughts, impulses, or images come from your own mind?	YES	NO
Are the thoughts, impulses, or images excessive or unreasonable?	YES	NO
Are the thoughts, impulses, or images excessive worries about real-life problems?	YES	NO
Do you engage in repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently)?	YES	NO
Do you feel driven to perform the repetitive behaviors or mental acts in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly?	YES	NO
Are the behaviors or mental acts aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation?	YES	NO
Are the behaviors or mental acts excessive or unreasonable?	YES	NO
Do your intrusive thoughts or repetitive behaviors cause you to feel very distressed or anxious?	YES	NO
Do your intrusive thoughts or repetitive behaviors take more than one hour a day?	YES	NO
Do your intrusive thoughts or repetitive behaviors significantly interfere with your normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships?	YES	NO

You might have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder if...

one or both of the following are true:

• You answered YES to items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, AND you answered NO to item 7
• You answered YES to items 8, 9, 10, and 11

AND you answered YES to any of items 12, 13, and 14