The OCD Loop
OCD is an anxiety disorder, although it is different from other anxiety conditions in that it involves the OCD loop. The loop will always be present even when it is tricky to identify specific parts of it. The OCD loop is made up of four parts... let's break them down!
Obsessions
The anxiety loop starts with an obsession. An obsession is a fear; very often in OCD, these fears involve thoughts of harm coming to loved ones or something happening that goes completely against the values of the individual experiencing the obsession. Obsessions can be thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, urges, complete word-based sentences (including commands), or thoughts in pictorial form, which could include still and/or moving images.
An extremely common but hard-to-spot-from-the-outside type of obsession involves intrusive thoughts. These are unwelcome, distressing images or 'what if?' thoughts that go totally against the values of the person experiencing them. You can find out more about intrusive thoughts here!
Anxiety
Obsessions cause anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety are wide-ranging; they can affect the body, the mind and behaviour.
Let's have a look at a few of the common ways anxiety can affect us:
Physiological changes to the body
e.g. elevated heart rate, faster breathing, feeling hot or cold, shaking, digestive changes, and feeling nauseous and weak.
Emotional changes
e.g. emotional regulation challenges, sadness, fear, panic, dread, tearfulness, anger and stress.
Changes to the brain
e.g., dissociating, hyper-focusing on sounds/movement/actions, racing thoughts, memory issues, shutting down.
Compulsions
Anxiety is extremely uncomfortable and compulsions are designed to lessen the amount of anxiety and to try to 'make sure' the content of the obsession doesn't happen. This is the area of OCD that seems to be surrounded by the most misconception, so let's really break it down.
Compulsions are behaviours that can be external (physical routines/rituals/behaviours) or internal (mental routines/rituals/behaviours); they involve checking, avoiding, counting, reviewing, hunting for certainty, and asking for reassurance. This list, like the list of obsessions, has no end, but compulsions generally fall under the main areas of checking, avoiding, or looking for certainty.
Let's take a look at one obsession and some of the different compulsions that may be used to lessen the anxiety it invokes.
Note how some of the obsessions initially seem to make sense - it does make sense to check for safety around children, but OCD will take this to the point where it is not helpful.
Some compulsions make no sense. Holding your breath in a particular way does not ensure the well-being of your child AT ALL - but OCD will cause enough doubt that you do it anyway... just in case.
Take a look at both pictures and have a go at answering the following questions.
Which compulsions (behaviours) are internal/external?
Would you know the reasons WHY that behaviour was happening?
Which of the behaviours above may make sense at first before OCD pushes it into unhelpful behaviour?
Answering these questions may help you identify how your own OCD works and this in turn may help you start to break the cycle!
Temporary Relief
Completing a compulsion often leads to feelings of temporary relief. 'It's okay, I've checked, there's nothing wrong!'... but sadly, this relief doesn't last long. Very quickly, the obsessions and anxiety start to ramp up again. And because OCD wants to make sure it keeps your attention, the nature of the obsessions becomes more intense... they may happen at a quicker rate, or the content of the obsessions may become more distressing.
Putting it all Together
If it isn't interrupted, the OCD loop tends to get worse over time, often to the point where everyday life can become very tricky to manage. But there is good news! OCD responds extremely well to treatment. Finding the right combination of support for you may take a while, but remember the journey to feeling better often happens in small steps, and it can often only take a couple to help you feel much better. Please check the reading section below for more information on treatment and getting help for OCD.
I hope this post has been helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them.
Sending loads of love,
Cat xx
Further Reading
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