5. Alice’s Story: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is not always considered a form of anxiety, however, it’s worth talking about because you can’t have OCD without having some level of anxiety as well. OCD is based on behaviours that you might feel compelled to do (eg. Not leaving the room without closing the cupboard door) and obsessive, ruminating thoughts that play on repeat. Compulsions can be as simple as feeling the need to check that the lights, oven or an electrical appliance hasn’t been left on or a need to double wash your hands. Compulsions can become ritualistic and ultimately become a problem when you’re consumed by something to the point where you can’t focus on what you need to be focusing on or can’t enjoy and engage with your life fully. Associated with OCD is this concept of magical thinking. In Alice’s case, it was a need to count everything - everything needed to be in multiples of 6 or something bad would happen. It’s a problem when you start to judge situations as being ok or not based on things like a certain number.