Untangling the Myths and Facts of OCD
It is important for mental health clinicians, other healthcare providers, the general public,
people living with OCD, and loved ones of those living with OCD to di;erentiate between
the myths and facts about OCD. The prominence of myths contributes to the 14-17 years,
on average, that it takes for a person to receive an OCD diagnosis and treatment. Gaining a
better understanding of OCD and how it operates is crucial for connecting people with
treatment and reducing stigma.
Myth: OCD is all about being tidy and organized.
Fact: OCD is not about a person enjoying organization or symmetry; it is a pattern of
unwanted and intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that create extreme distress and
prompt repetitive behaviors to lower that distress. Because OCD can be incredibly
debilitating, people living with this disorder may actually struggle to maintain
hygiene and a clean environment. While some people's experience with OCD may
involve persistent concerns about contamination, their compulsions are aimed at
reducing distress and avoiding negative outcomes rather than receiving pleasure or
satisfaction from something being clean and tidy.
Myth: OCD symptoms can be treated by simply teaching a person to relax.
Fact: When addressing OCD, focusing on relaxation can backfire because an
inability to relax is not what maintains the OCD cycle. Although attempts to help a
person relax can be well-intentioned, OCD is maintained by an inability to tolerate
the uncertainty and distress that follows intrusive thoughts. Rather than trying to escape from anxiety and distress, proper OCD treatment highlights the importance
of building distress tolerance.
Myth: Compulsions are always visible.
Fact: While people often assume that OCD can only show up as compulsive hand-
washing, lock-checking, and visible counting, OCD can manifest in ways that are
invisible to others. Mental compulsions can include rumination, mental reviewing,
internal checking, thought neutralization, and much more.
Myth: People simply need to avoid triggers and reduce anxiety for OCD to improve.
Fact: Avoidance of thoughts, situations, etc., that trigger feelings of anxiety is part of
what makes the OCD cycle persist. Anxiety is a necessary emotion that is not
inherently harmful or dangerous, and changing a person’s relationship with anxiety
allows them to tolerate it without immediately engaging in compulsive behaviors in
an attempt to reduce or eradicate it. When people continuously avoid anything that
triggers obsessive thoughts and discomfort, it can negatively impact their self-
efficacy, social flourishing, and beliefs about themselves and the world around
them.
Myth: OCD is always caused by trauma or adverse childhood experiences.
Fact: While environmental factors can play a role in how OCD appears or is
maintained, life events cannot fully predict or explain why a person has OCD. Many people who experience trauma do not develop OCD, and many people with OCD
have not experienced significant trauma or had challenging childhoods.
Intrusive thoughts occur because of underlying, unconscious desires or beliefs.
Fact: Contrary to some of the common assumptions about why mental health
challenges occur, OCD is not caused by suppression of unconscious desires.
Intrusive thoughts are ego-dystonic, meaning they do not align with a person’s
values. A person’s intrusive thoughts feed into the OCD cycle because their ego-
dystonic nature triggers intense distress and anxiety, which prompts compulsive
behaviors that temporarily decrease that distress and anxiety.
Myth: It’s impossible to treat OCD.
Fact: OCD is absolutely treatable, and evidence-based treatments for OCD have
very promising research that supports their e;ectiveness. The gold standard
treatment for OCD, exposure with response prevention (ERP), is e;icacious in
interrupting the OCD cycle and helping people build the skills to accept the
presence of intrusive thoughts, tolerate distress, and engage in actions that are
aligned with their values and do not feed into the cycle. Other supportive
treatments, like acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-
based cognitive therapy (MBCT), encourage detachment from thoughts, so that they
can be observed rather than engaged with in a way that perpetuates the OCD cycle.
We hope that by being able to demystify the myths related to OCD, people can feel empowered to speak up about the symptoms that they are experiencing and seek treatement. Whether you're struggling with contamination, violent/harmful, or sexually intrusive thoughts related to OCD, treatment is possible and you can have an OCD free life!
If someone you or someone you know could benefit from treatment, please reach out to Panacea Therapy Group to schedule an intake and discussed treatment options at 405-513-0282.
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