Types of OCD

HOCD is one of the most common kinds of OCD. However there has been written very little about it. It is oftentimes diagnoses erroneously as a repressed homosexuality, which causes an even higher level of angst in the people who suffer from it. Many clients are surprised to hear that there are more people who suffer from homosexual OCD and they are especially surprised when we tell them that for the majority of our clients it is the main reason for their visit. In this article we will explain what HOCD or Gay OCD is, what causes it, how it affects the lives of those who suffer from it, and how it can be treated.

Cleaning OCD consists in an excessive fear of contamination. People who suffer from it perceive and exaggerated risk of being contaminated or contaminating someone. Normally there is something that needs to be “cleaned” or purified, such as obsessive thoughts related to contamination, accidents, or unwanted emotions such as anger, guilt, hate or grief.

People who suffer from cleaning OCD can have very frightening thoughts and obsessions. For example they can think that by holding the bar in the metro they can become seriously ill, or when they don’t wash the dishes “thoroughly or thoroughly enough” one of their family members can get ill and die.

Obsessive Jealousy is similar to other kinds of OCD in terms of the symptomatology, but an important difference is that the obsessive, intrusive and oftentimes delirious thoughts center around the theme of their partner being unfaithful. This causes the person to feel the compulsive need of checking and controlling their partner. They might investigate their partner’s social media, check their email, ask them questions about what they’ve done, with whom etc., read their agenda, their mobile phone, checking and/or relating any kind of behavior of their partner (getting ready, dressing up, being happy, sad, arriving home late, shaving…) with the possibility of cheating or being unfaithful.

Fear of death is an existential fear that has always been present. It is a fear that affects all people who reflect on their presence in this world. To think about death indicates that we have an elevated consciousness which allows us to step out of our routine and to consider what we’re contributing to our community and what mark we’re leaving behind.

However, this contemplation can become a problem the moment that fearing and reflecting on death become our main occupancy throughout the day. This is what happens when someone suffers Fear of Death OCD, or OCD related to the fear of death (also known as death phobia or Thanatophobia).

Relationship OCD (ROCD) is a kind of OCD many people don’t know, even though it is very common. In ROCD the main obsession is whether or not the person is truly in love with the person they’re with and whether or not their love is going to last. ROCD is frequently diagnosed and treated erroneously. Psychologists and psychiatrist often think the client is simply unhappy with their relationship or they can point out their client’s worst fear: that maybe they are simply not that in love with their partner. These interventions as opposed to helping their client, increase the level of anxiety in a person who’s already tormented by their fear.

Religious OCD consists in a profound fear of sinning, committing blasphemy or not being good enough as a person. People who suffer from religious OCD continuously worry about having “bad” or “impure” thoughts. They can fear not ending up in heaven, or being judged by God for anything they do. They belief in a severe God, who they are convinced will condemn them for their behavior and inner thoughts. Also, some fear becoming possessed by the devil if they don’t have “enough” faith or if they “sin” too much.

Fear of hurting the people around you is a kind of OCD in which the content of the obsessions is focused on the irrational fear of losing control and physically hurting someone. What’s very frightening for the person who suffers it is that the obsessions usually involve hurting the people they love the most or the ones who are most vulnerable (for example children and elderly people).

These obsessions or intrusive thoughts are usually inspired by violence in the news, or by observing violent acts in the close environment of the person. The person who suffers from the fear of hurting the people around them can quickly imagine themselves being involved in this violence, even though they would never be involved in something like that.

People who have Pedophilia OCD suffer a lot because of the object of the obsessions: pedophilia. It is difficult for them to look for professional help or talk about the disorder because its symptoms get easily misunderstood or confused for an actual pedophilia. However Pedophilia OCD is very different from pedophilia, with the main difference being that it’s based in fear and not desire. That is, it’s nothing similar to actual pedophilia.

False Memory OCD is a kind of OCD in which the person obsesses about the possibility of having committed a crime. People who suffer from this kind of OCD can doubt constantly about whether or not they have committed a serious crime such as killing or raping someone. These thoughts, though harmless in the beginning, gain in power over time to the point in which the person becomes convinced that they might have actually committed the crime.