OCD Specialist

Washington Center for Women's and Children's Wellness (WCWCW)

Child, Adolescent, Women’s & Reproductive Psychiatry located in Bethesda, MD and offering Telehealth appointments in Maryland, Virginia, DC, Florida and Michigan

There is hope if you suffer from OCD. If you have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), you might have so many unpleasant and intrusive thoughts that you develop coping mechanisms to try and control them. At WCWCW in Bethesda, Maryland, our highly skilled mental health professionals can help you understand these obsessions and compulsions. With our expert care, you can learn how to reduce the effects of OCD on your life and focus on happier and healthier thoughts. For compassionate OCD treatment, call WCWCW today or request an appointment online.

OCD Q & A

All Services > Our Specialties > Women's Psychiatry > Anxiety Disorders > OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

What is OCD?

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress.

What are the symptoms of OCD?

Obsessive compulsive disorder usually includes both obsessions and compulsions. But it's also possible to have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms. You may or may not realize that your obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable, but they take up a great deal of time and interfere with your daily routine and social, school, or work functioning.

OCD obsessions are repeated, persistent and unwanted thoughts urge, or images that are intrusive and cause distress or anxiety. You might try to ignore them or get rid of them by performing a compulsive behavior or ritual. These obsessions typically intrude when you're trying to think of or do other things.

Examples of obsession signs and symptoms include:

Fear of being contaminated by touching objects others have touched
Doubts that you've locked the door or turned off the stove
Intense stress when objects aren't orderly or facing a certain way
Images of driving your car into a crowd of people
Thoughts about shouting obscenities or acting inappropriately in public
Unpleasant sexual images
Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands

OCD compulsions are repetitive behaviors that you feel driven to perform. These repetitive behaviors or mental acts are meant to reduce anxiety related to your obsessions or prevent something bad from happening. However, engaging in the compulsions brings no pleasure and may offer only temporary relief from anxiety.

You may make up rules or rituals to follow that help control your anxiety when you're having obsessive thoughts. These compulsions are excessive and often are not realistically related to the problem they're intended to fix.

Examples of compulsion signs and symptoms include:

Hand-washing until your skin becomes raw
Checking doors repeatedly to make sure they're locked
Checking the stove repeatedly to make sure it's off
Counting in certain patterns
Silently repeating a prayer, word or phrase
Arranging your canned goods to face the same way

WCWCW can help. Call our office or request an appointment online today.

When should I seek help for OCD?

There's a difference between being a perfectionist — someone who requires flawless results or performance, for example — and having OCD. OCD thoughts aren't simply excessive worries about real problems in your life or liking to have things clean or arranged in a specific way.

Our specialists at WCWCW in Bethesda, Maryland, offer the supportive care you need to overcome the challenges of OCD. We provide the same high-quality service via telehealth for patients living in Maryland, DC, Virginia, Michigan, and Florida. Call our office or request an appointment online today.