ASTRO: The OCD Cycle

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is often misunderstood. It is common for people to think that OCD is just a quirky trait or a preference for staying clean and organized- but this is not what OCD is! OCD involves a cycle that repeats over and over. This cycle can impact many areas of life, and it uses up a lot of time and energy. Here are the steps in the OCD cycle: (View as PDF)

Step #1: Triggers

It all begins with a trigger that brings up an intrusive thought. Intrusive thoughts are upsetting or unwanted ideas, doubts, images, or feelings that pop into someone’s head. A trigger can be almost anything – a person, a situation, a place, or a feeling in your body. 

Step #2: Obsessions 

It’s normal to have intrusive thoughts! We all experience doubts or unwanted ideas at times. Intrusive thoughts only become a problem once they turn into something called obsessions. Obsessions are intrusive or unwanted thoughts that come up over and over again. For someone with OCD, intrusive thoughts carry a lot more meaning- this makes them feel very threatening, scary, urgent, or important. For most people, intrusive thoughts are just temporary ideas, but in OCD, they turn into something much bigger. When someone gets stuck in the OCD cycle, their intrusive thoughts start to recur and turn into obsessions.  

Step #3: Emotions 

In OCD, obsessions can bring up a lot of really uncomfortable emotions such as fear, shame, anxiety, or disgust. Another common emotion in OCD is feeling like things are not correct or not just right. This is called having a “not-just-right” experience. For example, when cleaning his room, George has a constant feeling that his bookshelf is not organized just right. This feeling upsets and bugs George a lot.  

Step #4: Compulsions 

Emotions such as distress, fear, or disgust caused by obsessions can lead to actions called compulsions. Compulsions can be any action someone with OCD uses to try and get rid of these feelings or to stop bad things from happening. Compulsions are usually physical actions, such as washing your hands or checking on your pet over and over, but they can sometimes be in your head too. For example, you might try to block out scary thoughts or replace your “bad” thoughts with “good” ones. You may adjust your thoughts like this over and over again, even if it does not seem to work for very long.   

Compulsions are a specific type of quick fix. Compulsions happen much more often than other kinds of quick fixes, and they also tend to come along with the strongest urges. For example, George has a very strong urge to keep organizing his bookshelf, not because he enjoys organizing, but to try and get rid of the upsetting feeling that it is not organized correctly.  

Step #5: Temporary Relief 

Compulsions provide a short break from upsetting emotions and thoughts, but they also keep the OCD cycle going. When using compulsions, someone with OCD will feel temporary relief, so it makes sense why they would keep using compulsions to try and feel better. But the next time an upsetting thought comes up, they feel like they must repeat the compulsion over and over again to get rid of the uncomfortable thought or feeling. Compulsions end up stopping someone from learning that their unwanted thoughts or doubts do not have to be a big deal. They don’t get to find out that they can face these thoughts and emotions when they give themselves a chance!

You’ll notice that the OCD cycle looks almost exactly like the other two anxiety cycles we have shown you so far. This is because the OCD cycle is a specific version of these other cycles. One difference is that the OCD cycle tends to be faster. Someone can move through the steps in the OCD cycle pretty quickly. This means that the OCD cycle can repeat itself a whole lot of times in just one day. 

If you have OCD, or if you feel like you might be dealing with some obsessions or compulsions, then take some time to fill out the Understanding Your OCD worksheet.  

Then, take a look at this chart to see some common obsessions and compulsions that can show up in OCD. But keep in mind- there are many other types that are not on this list: 

Do any of the thoughts or behaviors on this list seem familiar to you? Are any of these thoughts or behaviors similar to the ones you wrote down on your worksheet? If so, take a quick mental note of this!  

OCD can be hard to understand, and it can be even harder to know if it is something you are dealing with or not. If what you have learned about OCD confuses you, or if it seems like OCD is something you could be dealing with, please talk about this with your therapist the next time you meet with them! You can also talk about these things with your parent.