OCD Awareness Week
That’s OCD — and It Is Not a Personality Quirk
“I’m so OCD about my desk.” Most people who say that do not have obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD Awareness Week, October 11–17, uses a simple correction as its theme: That’s OCD. The week exists because so many people suffer for years without knowing the thing exhausting them has a name and a treatment.
OCD is a cycle. Obsessions are unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that show up against a person’s values and cause distress. Compulsions are behaviors or mental acts the person feels driven to do to reduce that distress or prevent something bad. The relief does not last. The loop tightens.
OCD is not a love of order. Many people with OCD are not tidy at all. The disorder is about doubt, threat, and the exhausting attempt to feel certain.
Signs and what to look for
Themes vary. The engine is the same: intrusion, anxiety, ritual, brief relief, return.
• Contamination and illness. Fear of germs, chemicals, or bodily fluids, with washing, avoiding, or cleaning that goes far past ordinary hygiene.
• Harm. Intrusive fears of hurting someone by accident or on purpose, followed by checking, reassurance, or hiding knives and medications.
• Taboo thoughts. Unwanted sexual, religious, or violent thoughts. The person is horrified by them. That horror is a clue, not a confession.
• Symmetry, “just right,” and checking. Repeating, ordering, or re-reading until it feels right. Rechecking locks, stoves, emails, or whether a mistake was made.
• Scrupulosity. Religious or moral fears that go beyond sincere faith into constant confession, reassurance, or fear of having sinned by having a thought.
• Mental compulsions. Praying a phrase a set number of times, reviewing memories, or neutralizing a “bad” thought with a “good” one. Invisible, and still OCD.
In kids, OCD can look like bedtime rituals that cannot be shortened, repeated questions, or meltdowns when a routine changes. Family members often get pulled into the ritual without meaning to.
How to help
• Drop the joke. Calling picky habits “OCD” teaches people with the real disorder to stay quiet.
• Do not reassure in a loop. “You definitely locked it” feels kind and feeds the cycle. Agree on a plan with their clinician.
• Do not join the ritual. Washing alongside them or answering the same question twenty times keeps the OCD in charge.
• Separate the person from the disorder. “That sounds like OCD talking” can be grounding when it is said with respect.
• Encourage treatment that targets the cycle. Exposure and response prevention, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, is a first-line therapy for OCD. Medication helps many people too.
How to get help
If rituals or intrusive thoughts are eating time, sleep, school, work, or relationships, a confidential assessment is worth it. You do not have to describe the scariest thought in the first phone call. Saying “I think I may have OCD” is enough to start.
How to get help
Stronger Mental Health Counseling Services
Call 205-265-2226 · Text 205-757-9872
Facebook: Stronger Mental Health | Jasper AL · Also on Instagram and TikTok
Confidential appointments for children, teens, adults, and families in Walker County and surrounding communities.
We can help you sort out whether what you are dealing with is OCD, anxiety, or something else — and what care fits.
This post is for education only. It is not a diagnosis, a treatment plan, or a substitute for care from a licensed clinician.
If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988
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