5 Reasons Why Your "OCD" Is Not OCD!!!

Although the term "OCD" or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is common in popular media and culture few people actually know about this mental disorder. OCD is a clinical diagnosis that is debilitating and induces extreme anxiety. Read these 5 points to better understand why your "OCD" is NOT OCD. (Part of Alma College PSY 101 S2018)

1. D is for Disorder

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As public awareness of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has grown so has the misuse of the medical term for such diagnosis. By adding the D for disorder it specifies OCD as medical condition powered by clinical obsession not your type A personality.

2. Not Optional

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When people use the terms of obsessive and compulsive incorrectly it belittles and trivializes the suffering this disorder can bring. Your individual obsessive quirks do not constitute the distress and anxiety that occurs in people with OCD. OCD by definition can be debilitating for hours on end and is no match to your quirky traits.

3. Not Logic but Anxiety

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Just being a logical person doesn't mean you have OCD. People often confuse personality traits with disorders and in this case mistake people with OCD as over-logical. OCD is fueled not by logic but by anxiety about what will happen if they don't do something excessively.

4. Not A Clean Freak

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If people have said you have OCD just because you like to keep a clean room does not mean you legitimate disorder. People with OCD are not "neat freaks" as they are motivated by the fear of not cleaning instead of just enjoying a clean house. Although cleanliness will always be related to OCD it alone does not constitute having the disorder.

5. OCPD

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Few people understand the differences between types of OCD and OCPD. Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is an off shoot in some sense of OCD in which the obsessive actions are part of their personality and constitute a good life. However, people with OCD are unhappy with their compulsive behaviors and cannot combat overwhelming needs.