| Aggressive obsessions |
 |
Checking compulsions |
|
Thoughts of harming or having harmed oneself
|
|
Having to repeatedly check to see if you hurt yourself by self-examination or by seeing a doctor |
| Thoughts of harming or having harmed others |
|
Having to repeatedly check to see if you hurt someone by asking or telephoning them for reassurance |
| Thoughts of causing or having caused a catastrophe |
|
Having to repeatedly check to see if you may have caused something terrible to happen by listening to or watching the news, or by questioning others |
| Thoughts of making mistakes that could cause harm |
|
Having to repeatedly check locks, stoves, electrical outlets, etc. |
| Having aggressive or violent mental images or fear of having them |
|
Having to repeatedly block out aggressive or violent images with "good" images |
| Fear of blurting out obscenities |
|
Having to repeatedly ask for reassurance that you didn't blurt out something obscene |
| Fear of doing something embarrassing |
|
Having to repeatedly ask for reassurance that you didn't do something embarrassing |
| Fear of acting impulsively |
|
Having to repeatedly ask for reassurance that you didn't do something impulsively |
| Fear of stealing or of cheating someone |
|
Having to repeatedly check to see if you stole or cheated someone by asking for reassurance that you didn't |
| Contamination obsessions |
|
Washing/Cleansing compulsions |
|
Disgust when thinking about coming into contact with bodily waste or secretions
|
|
Having to repeatedly wash your hands, shower, or clean things, or having to handle doorknobs in public restrooms with a paper towel |
| Fear of contamination from dirt, germs, poisons, substances that could pick up contaminants, public restrooms, other people, animals or insects |
|
Having to repeatedly wash, shower, or clean things after touching things that are dirty, using household chemicals, touching things that are sticky, using public restrooms, or touching other people or animals, or coming into contact with insects |
| Sexually related obsessions |
|
Sexually related compulsions |
|
Having perverse or sexually aggressive thoughts about family, friends, children, or strangers or fear of having them
|
|
Having to repeatedly pray or confess to negate perverse or sexually aggressive thoughts |
| Fear that you may be homosexual or bisexual |
|
Having to repeatedly ask for reassurance that you are not homosexual or bisexual |
| Saving/Collecting/Hoarding obsessions |
|
Saving/Collecting/Hoarding compulsions |
| Fear of not having things that may be needed in the future |
|
Having to acquire and save things and being unable to discard them, such as "on sale" items, newspapers, junk mail, and useless items |
| Religious/Moral obsessions |
|
Religious/Moral compulsions |
| Having blasphemous thoughts or fear of having them, fear of lying or fear of punishment for the same |
|
Having to repeatedly pray or confess to negate blasphemous thoughts or lies |
| Symmetry/Exactness obsessions |
|
Symmetry/Exactness compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced when things are not "perfectly balanced" or "properly aligned" |
|
Having to position things symmetrically, such as placing two candles on a table the exact same distance from the center of the table or having to "properly align" things, such as straightening pictures on a wall
|
| Ordering/Arranging obsessions |
|
Ordering/Arranging compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced when things are not in the "right order" or "correctly arranged" |
|
Having to put things in the "right order," such as placing objects on a shelf going from large to small or having to have things "correctly arranged," such as arranging place settings on a dinner table in a particular way |
| Memory obsessions |
|
Memory compulsions |
| Fear of forgetting names, numbers, sayings, etc. |
|
Having to memorize or write down insignificant names, unimportant numbers, trivial sayings, etc.
|
| Speech obsessions |
|
Speech compulsions |
| Fear of saying certain words or of saying the "wrong thing" |
|
Having to repeatedly ask for reassurance that you didn't say a certain word or say the "wrong thing" |
| Telling/Asking/Confessing obsessions |
|
Telling/Asking/Confessing compulsions |
| Fear of the consequences of not being able to tell, ask, or confess certain things |
|
Having to repeatedly tell, ask, or confess certain things |
| Loss obsessions |
|
Loss compulsions |
| Fear of losing things, including insignificant things |
|
Having to repeatedly keep track of certain things, including insignificant things |
| Visual obsessions |
|
Visual compulsions |
| Fear of inability to stop certain images that come to mind |
|
Having to repeatedly block out certain images that repeatedly comes to mind |
| Words/Sounds/Music obsessions |
|
Words/Sounds/Music compulsions |
| Fear of inability to stop recalling certain words, sounds, or music |
|
Having to repeatedly block out certain words or sounds that repeatedly come to mind or music that repeatedly comes to mind |
| Numbers obsessions |
|
Numbers compulsions |
| Fear of certain numbers, times of the day, days of the month, etc. |
|
Having to do something to negate the "ill-effects" of certain numbers, times of the day, or days of the month, such as the number 13, Friday the 13th, 9/11 (WTC attack), etc.
|
| Colors obsessions |
|
Colors compulsions |
| Fear of certain-colored objects or fear of wearing certain colors |
|
Having to discard, give away, or return objects or clothing that are a certain color |
| Reading obsessions |
|
Reading compulsions |
| Fear that you may have missed something or misunderstood something in something that you've read |
|
Having to repeatedly reread something that you've already read |
| Writing obsessions |
|
Writing compulsions |
| Fear that you may have written something imperfectly or unclearly |
|
Having to repeatedly rewrite something that you've already written |
| Listening obsessions |
|
Listening compulsions |
| Fear that you may have missed something or misunderstood something that someone has said |
|
Having to often ask others to repeat themselves |
| Fear that you may have heard something that could indicate potential danger |
|
Having to repeatedly listen to determine whether you've heard something that could indicate potential danger
|
| Thought obsessions |
|
Thought compulsions |
| Fear of inability to stop certain thoughts that come to mind |
|
Having to repeatedly block out certain thoughts with other thoughts |
| Habit/Routine obsessions |
|
Habit/Routine compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced unless things are done in a certain order or a certain number of times |
|
Having to do things in a certain order or a certain number of times |
| Counting obsessions |
|
Counting compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced unless objects are counted |
|
Having to count objects such as those that create a pattern, like ceiling or floor tiles, bricks in a wall, etc. |
| Discomfort experienced unless things are done a specific number of times |
|
Having to do things in threes, fours, fives, etc., such as always having to take three sips of water when drinking |
| Discomfort experienced unless counting while doing something |
|
Having to count while doing something, such as having to wash your hands to the count of 10, 50, or 100 |
| Touching/Tapping/Rubbing obsessions |
|
Touching/Tapping/Rubbing compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced unless objects or people are touched, tapped or rubbed or fear that something bad will happen unless objects or people are touched, etc. |
|
Having to touch, tap, or rub objects or people, sometimes to prevent something "bad" from happening |
| Avoidance obsessions |
|
Avoidance compulsions |
| Fear of things that could be used to harm yourself or others |
|
Having to get rid of things that could be used to harm yourself or others, such as knives, scissors, or sharp pieces of glass
|
| Eating obsessions |
|
Eating compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced unless things are "just so" or it's "the right time" before being able to eat |
|
Having to arrange things "just so," such as silverware on a table before being able to eat or having to wait until it's "the right time" such as 6:00 before being able to eat
|
| Superstition obsessions |
|
Superstition compulsions |
| Fears of things or places that are associated with death or bad luck |
|
Having to do something to negate the "ill-effects" of going into a cemetery, passing a hearse, or coming upon a black cat or "unlucky" number, such as having to wash or discard clothing worn in a cemetery, recite a certain phrase after passing a hearse, etc.
|
| Health obsessions |
|
Health compulsions |
| Fears of having a terrible disease, despite medical reassurance that you are healthy |
|
Having to repeatedly go to doctors for reassurance that you are healthy
|
| Appearance obsessions |
|
Appearance compulsions |
| Concern that a part of your face or body is ugly, despite reassurance to the contrary |
|
Repeatedly examining a perceived "defect" in your appearance, asking for reassurance about your appearance, or having surgeries to correct a perceived flaw
|
| Hair pulling |
|
Hair pulling compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced by the presence of thick, wiry, or otherwise unacceptable hairs on any part of your body |
|
Acting on irresistible urges to pull out thick, wiry, or otherwise unacceptable hairs on any part of your body, to the point of causing noticeable loss |
| Skin picking |
|
Skin picking compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced by the presence of pimples, dry skin, scars, scabs, or other flaws on your skin |
|
Acting on irresistible urges to pick at pimples, dry skin, scars, scabs, or other flaws on your skin to the point of causing noticeable damage or bleeding |
| Nail biting |
|
Nail biting compulsions |
| Discomfort experienced by the presence of rough, ragged, or uneven fingernails or toenails |
|
Acting on irresistible urges to bite at rough, ragged, or uneven fingernails or toenails, to the point of causing noticeable damage or bleeding |
