David describes himself as a 'perfectionist' who repeats everything he does (e.g., reading, writing, locking doors) at least three times to ensure that he has done every task perfectly. His marriage ended because of his ways of doing things. David's storyĭavid is a 40-year-old accountant who is divorced and lives alone. Although Jenny is aware that her fear is excessive, she finds it too difficult to resist washing and cleaning because she does not want to risk harming her son. Jenny's preoccupation with her son's well-being is a major source of tension between her and her husband, because her husband feels that she is overly protective of their son. She also avoids taking him to parks and other public places for fear that he will come into contact with a 'contaminant' (e.g., animal feces, used tissue paper) and get sick. At home, she frequently 'disinfects' all of her son's toys with boiling water and washes his clothes and sheets with bleach. By the time she decided to take a leave from work, she was washing her hands up to 70 times a day, and they were raw and bleeding as a result.

She became afraid of coming into contact with more and more things at work, and felt she needed to wash her hands more frequently. She soon found herself being consumed with worries about contracting and spreading an illness to her son. She thought that it was just a phase and that she would 'get over it.'īut, Jenny's fear only got worse over time. Jenny says that her fear of being contaminated was manageable at first, because she only needed to wash her hands after coming in contact with a patient. She also made sure that she changed out of her work clothes before going home, and washed them with bleach. Because of this concern, she took extra care when washing her hands at work for example, she used only very hot water to wash her hands because she thought it would get them cleaner, and washed them repeatedly until it felt 'just right'. Although she knew that it was difficult to contract the HIV virus, she found the idea of making her son sick very upsetting. However, when she returned to work after a maternity leave, she started having 'scary' thoughts that if she was not careful enough, she could contract a serious illness (such as AIDS) at work and make her baby sick. Jenny says that because of her job she has always been careful about being clean, but she was never overly concerned about germs. She has been on leave from her nursing job for over a year due to anxiety-related difficulties. Born and raised in China, she immigrated to Canada with her husband about 10 years ago.

Jenny is a 31-year-old married woman with a 3-year-old son. praying, counting, repeating phrases) that are carried out to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsessions.īe sure to watch our video for more information! Recognizing OCD: Do I have it? Jenny's story washing, checking, ordering) or mental acts (e.g. Obsessions are unwanted and disturbing thoughts, images, or impulses that suddenly pop into the mind and cause a great deal of anxiety or distress.Ĭompulsions are deliberate behaviours (e.g.

What other things do adults with OCD do in daily life?.

People with OCD experience both obsessions and compulsions. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that affects about 1-2% of the population.

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