The OCD Nobody Can See: What Is Pure O? QUICK ANSWER Pure O (Pure Obsessional OCD) is a form of OCD characterised by intrusive thoughts and mental compulsions rather than visible physical rituals. Common mental compulsions include rumination, thought suppression, mental review, and seeking internal reassurance. NICE clinical guideline CG31 recommends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) […]
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CBT and ERP for OCD: What Treatment Actually Involves QUICK ANSWER CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for OCD is a structured, evidence-based psychological treatment that targets the thoughts, behaviours, and emotional responses that maintain OCD. Its core technique is ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), in which clients gradually face feared situations while choosing not to carry
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Do You Have Health Anxiety or OCD? A Therapist Explains QUICK ANSWER Health anxiety is a persistent, excessive worry about having or developing a serious illness, which continues despite medical reassurance. OCD is a condition involving unwanted, distressing intrusive thoughts and compulsive rituals performed to neutralise them. When OCD’s intrusive thoughts centre on illness or
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What is Contamination OCD? Symptoms, Triggers, and How CBT Helps QUICK ANSWER Contamination OCD is a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which a person experiences persistent, unwanted thoughts about contamination, from germs, illness, dirt, or chemicals, and responds with compulsive behaviours designed to neutralise that fear. These behaviours provide only brief relief, and over time
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Do I Have OCD or Anxiety? Key Differences Explained QUICK ANSWER OCD and anxiety share a lot of surface features, but they work through different mechanisms and respond to different treatments. Anxiety tends to involve persistent worry about real-world situations. OCD centres on unwanted intrusive thoughts followed by compulsions, and it’s the compulsion-relief cycle, not
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Types of OCD: The 7 Most Common Forms Explained QUICK ANSWER OCD takes many different forms. The type of intrusive thought at the centre varies between people, but the cycle is always the same: an unwanted thought triggers anxiety, a compulsion temporarily relieves it, and the doubt comes back stronger than before. Recognising the specific
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Are Intrusive Thoughts Normal? What the Research Shows QUICK ANSWER Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that appear without warning and feel distressing or out of character. Research shows they’re far more common than most people realise: 94% of people experience them. The difference between a normal intrusive thought and a clinical problem
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Checking OCD: Why You Can’t Stop and What Helps quick answer Checking OCD is a form of OCD where the main compulsion is repeatedly checking things, such as locks, appliances, or messages, to reduce doubt or dread. The checking provides brief relief, but that relief reinforces the cycle and makes the urge return stronger. Over
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How to Stop Intrusive Thoughts, Without Fighting Them QUICK ANSWER Trying to stop an intrusive thought by force tends to make it return more often. This is called ironic process theory, which is why advice to “just don’t think about it” rarely works. The approach that actually helps focuses not on eliminating intrusive thoughts but
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Intrusive Thoughts Explained by a CBT Therapist QUICK ANSWER Intrusive thoughts feel so real partly because the brain processes unwanted thoughts and genuine intentions through similar pathways, making them hard to tell apart. This is known as thought-action fusion. In reality, the content of an intrusive thought says very little about your character or what
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