

For example, cleanliness, self-harm, relationships, or religion. In general, OCD, including pure OCD, may involve different themes. Even when you live with a mental health disorder, you’re unique and your experiences are related to your personality, experiences, and surroundings. Pure OCD feels different to different people. “Often people with pure OCD have some level of insight and are able to tell the nature of the intrusive thoughts, and the mental compulsions are their way to relieving the anxiety.” attempting to “erase” memories or imagesĬompulsions are done in response to a specific thought or image that causes you distress, Khurana says.mentally reviewing your actions, thoughts, and memories.mentally singing a specific song or reciting a poem.mentally repeating phrases, affirmations, or mantras.persistent and disruptive self-reassurance.the obsessions and compulsions take up an hour or more of your day, every dayįor pure OCD, a 2011 study and a 2015 study observed that symptoms involve mental compulsions like:.your obsessions and compulsions are disruptive and distressing.you experience obsessions, compulsions, or both.
#Intrusive thoughts definition manual
They’re strategies you implement to try to decrease the distress obsessions cause.Ĭompulsions can impact your life in different aspects because you feel compelled to master them, which in turn leads you to repeat them until they “feel right.” This may take much of your time and cause you frustration and higher distress, which could impact your occupational and social life.Īs per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR), the formal symptoms of OCD, including pure O OCD, are obsessions and compulsions.Ī health professional will look for the following criteria to give an OCD diagnosis: The difference when you have OCD is that compulsions are distressing, time-consuming, and often feel involuntary. Most people have mental rituals that comfort them, even if they don’t live with OCD.įor example, you might repeat a confidence-boosting phrase to calm yourself during a job interview. This is because you still have compulsions, Khurana says, but they aren’t visible to others - they all take place in your mind. “Pure O OCD in a way can be a misnomer, and a more accurate description is ‘primarily obsessional’,” says Sid Khurana, a psychiatrist based in Las Vegas. So, instead of pacing up and down, you’d mentally sing a lullaby, for example. With pure OCD, the obsessions may be the same but the compulsions would be thoughts, not actions.

To neutralize this upsetting obsession, they engage in actions (compulsions) like pacing up and down, getting rid of their matches and lighters, and constantly checking their gas is off. compulsions: measures you feel compelled to repeat in order to stop, soothe, or neutralize the obsessionsįor example, someone might have distressing thoughts (obsessions) about burning their own house.

obsessions: intrusive, upsetting, persistent thoughts.Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves two main formal symptoms: Pure OCD is OCD characterized by obsessions and mental compulsions, as opposed to other types of OCD that involve obsessions and behavioral compulsions or rituals.
