Common Symptoms
People with OCD often have unwanted thoughts that bother them.
What are obsessions?
OCD can run in families, meaning this group of people may share it.
What is family/genetics?
This kind of therapy helps people face their fears slowly and safely.
What is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)?
This technique teaches people to notice their thoughts without getting stuck on them.
What is mindfulness?
OCD stands for this full term.
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
People with OCD may do certain actions over and over, like checking or cleaning.
What are compulsions?
OCD can start when the __ “worry signal” doesn’t work quite right.
These medicines, also used for depression, are often the first medication tried for OCD.
What are SSRIs?
This kind of helper—a trained mental health professional—guides people through therapy.
What is a therapist?
OCD often starts in this period of life, usually before age 25.
What is childhood or adolescence?
A common OCD symptom is washing these again and again to feel clean.
What are hands?
Big life __, like moving or starting a new school, can sometimes make OCD symptoms stronger.
What is stress?
This therapy helps people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
Doing this every day helps people face fears and practice their therapy skills.
What is practice?
People with OCD can experience high levels of this emotion when they cannot complete a compulsion.
What is anxiety?
Someone with OCD might check this item many times to make sure it’s locked.
What are doors?
Some people develop OCD after a sickness or infection, especially when young.
What is an infection?
In ERP, people practice not doing these actions that OCD tells them to do.
What are compulsions?
These supportive gatherings let people talk with others who also have OCD.
What are support groups?
OCD is classified as a type of this mental health disorder.
What is an anxiety disorder?
People with OCD often repeat actions because they feel this uncomfortable emotion.
OCD can happen because of a mix of both your genes and things that happen around you.
What is genetics and environment?
This older medication, similar to an SSRI, is sometimes used when others don’t work.
What is clomipramine?
This treatment uses gentle magnetic pulses on the brain when OCD is very hard to treat.
What is TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)?
OCD affects roughly this fraction of people worldwide at some point in their lives.
What is 1 in 40 (or about 2–3% of people)?