Understand more about OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) in adults, take a short test, and find out how we can help.
Intrusive thoughts are more common than people realise. With OCD, they can feel sticky and urgent, and hard to move past until you have done something to address this.
Some people with OCD experience it as a cycle:
An intrusive thought, image, urge, or doubt shows up
Anxiety, discomfort, or a strong sense of responsibility follows
A compulsion or ritual happens to try to reduce the feeling
Relief happens briefly, but the cycle returns
Compulsions are not always visible. Some are mental, like repeating phrases in your head, counting, neutralising thoughts, or analysing something that you said or did. Many people seek reassurance from others, or constantly check how they feel, which can become part of the cycle.
OCD can show up in many themes, including:
Contamination worries and cleaning rituals
Checking, such as doors, appliances, messages, or mistakes
Unpleasant, unwanted, intrusive thoughts of harm to themselves or others Relationship or responsibility doubts, needing certainty or reassurance
Symmetry, ordering, or repeating until things feel “just right”
These thoughts do not reflect who you are or your intentions. Intrusive thoughts can be frightening precisely because they go against your values.