More About Obsessions

Obsessions are repetitive mental thoughts, images or impulses. While there are many different types of obsessions, the obsessions of OCD have some clear characteristics:

Obsessions are unwanted & intrusive.

OCD obsessions just “pop in” to our stream of thought, not because we have chosen to think about them.

Obsessions are resisted.

The unpleasantness of obsessions means that there are attempts to avoid triggers or suppress obsessions with compulsions.

Obsessions are uncontrollable.

There is a lot of difficulty in trying to stop obsessions so they can feel overwhelming and uncontrollable.

Obsessions are distressing.

Obsessions are not about lovely or pleasant thoughts but are unacceptable or frightening, and so they are associated with distressing feelings

Obsessions are ego-dystonic.

This means that they are inconsistent with the core values of the self. This is an important one. Obsessions tend to go against the things that are important to you, in fact, they tend to say the very opposite of who you are!

Why are obsessions so upsetting?

OCD is the Disorder of Doubt. It demands our immediate attention by presenting distressing intrusions that feel important or threatening. Because the brain is biased toward noticing negative information, we’re more likely to emotionally react to these thoughts — especially because they go against our sense of self (ego-dystonic).

Sometimes this brain process can serve us well, but in OCD it is overactive and no longer helpful.

What about other types of obsessions?

The above characteristics are important because they help to distinguish the obsessions of OCD from other types of obsessions. For instance, being “obsessed” or in love with something (philia) is different to an OCD obsession because it is in line with how the person feels (ego-syntonic), and there may even be pleasure associated with the thoughts.

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Because OCD obsessions are so uncomfortable, the brain seeks out ways to reduce distress, or prevent something bad happening.

The compulsions of OCD are designed to help you feel better...

Learn More About Compulsions

Compulsions are designed to make you feel better, but they actually make OCD worse.
More on this when we introduce CBT for OCD.