Explainer | What is OCD? Symptoms, behaviour and treatment of a mental health disorder that one expert calls ‘a bully that robs you of joy’
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder can terrorise people with fearful thoughts of what will happen if the compulsions it demands aren’t performed, one expert says
- For the author, whose daughter has the disorder, the key is to remind her that her compulsions are ‘your OCD talking’ and ‘that thought means nothing’
Obsessive. Compulsive. Disorder.
It describes an illness, not a lifestyle choice nor the habits of the super-pedantic.
“The phrase is used far too loosely: ‘I’m a little bit OCD because I like to have things clean or ordered or done a certain way,’” says Minal Mahtani, founder and CEO of the charity OCD & Anxiety Support Hong Kong.
But as a disorder, it is both extremely distressing and much more common than you think.
Sufferers might obsess about cleanliness and spend hours every day cleaning their houses. They might be a compulsive shopper, unable to resist buying an item they don’t need.
How common is OCD – and who develops it
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, OCD affects 1.2 per cent of the adult US population. In China, it’s estimated to affect 1.63 per cent.