Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a very complex disease, and it has many forms of manifestation among patients. It is hard to compose an exact list containing the types of OCD because there will always be similarities or unique aspects for every patient.
It is a brain disease, so it is to expect to manifest in a different way in every patient.
The mind or the brain, is what defines you and me, and makes us unique and one of a kind, by the actions we make and the way we think.
Types of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are relative, according to the degree or severity of the disorder in a particular person.
Main types of OCD
It is correct to refer to the most common or main types of OCD. As you already know, an exact split of symptoms on types is hard to be made. But there are several characteristic and aspects that are more often met. These issues helped in the forming of these nine major types of OCD:
- Checking.
- Contamination (mental contamination or hygiene).
- Hoarding.
- Intrusive thoughts.
- Ordering
- Morality.
- Sexual or religious.
- Illness.
- Harming or aggression.
Each OCD type has a set of characteristics based on the way obsessions and compulsions manifest in an individual. But you should remember that if you find any of these features familiar with your daily activities that do not mean you have OCD.
OCD is diagnosed based on facts that include: the obsessions or compulsions take too much time (hours for instance), they cause a significant amount of stress and anxiety, they come in the way of unrolling normal activities at work or in family life. So, unless your life is completely taken over by fulfilling these obsessions or compulsions, you should not worry about OCD.
A closer insight on OCD types:
Let’s take each type and look closer at what characterizes it. You will better understand what each one means and assumes.
•Checking
As the word might give you a hint, checking is the compulsion for this category of OCD. The obsession in this case is to prevent things like fires, leakages, damages or any harm. People check items like stoves, water taps, gas knobs, door locks, windows, alarms, appliances and so on. But the checking is done in a repetitive manner, over and again, even for hours in a row.
•Contamination (Hygiene)
It has a close relationship to causes that may bring a disease or illness, which can cause pain, sufferance or death to its person or to someone dear. The compulsion is to clean continuously and wash items or to avoid public places. These people will never use a public toilet, will never eat at a restaurant, and touch door knobs or handles, practically anything that comes in contact with other persons. All from the fear of not being contaminated with dangerous germs and viruses.
•Ordering
People that suffer because of this particular type of OCD will feel in distress if the objects around them are not arranged or aligned in a certain way. They are the only ones that know which way “right” means, when it comes to arranging and organizing items. They usually align things to from a straight line or symmetric shape. They may spend quite a while arranging items until they find a way they find satisfactory. Usually, in their homes everything look too much in place and very tidy, and they do not like other people to intervene and move around their belongings. A fact like this can cause a lot of stress and anxiety.
•Hoarding
It is an OCD type that refers to the impossibility to get rid of individual possessions, like useless or used items. People suffering from hoarding will buy and collect items, not being able to let go any of them, even if they run out of space. You can imagine these people living in disorganized and crowded spaces, filled will all type of objects they never use.
•Intrusive thoughts
OCD patients that belong to this category have thoughts or a repulsive manner, which repeat in an uncontrollable manner. By the nature of the thought, the patient suffers a great stress, because all of these thoughts are related to negative and horrifying images. These thought can have sexual connections, magical, religious, relationship or any violence. They go through a great ordeal trying to prevent these horrible thoughts to come to reality.
