Do I have OCD? - Quiz

Living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be challenging. You may have experienced unique situations that you can only share with people who suffer from OCD. This is a blog for those of us who live or have lived with OCD. All opinions are us and us alone, Much of the information in this blog has been adapted from mental health websites.

Use this quiz to see whether you need to see a mental health professional for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder diagnosis and care.

What is OCD?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD is a mental health disorder characterized by obsessions (recurring, unwanted thoughts) that lead to compulsions (repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels compelled to perform to “resolve” the obsession) and anxiety. A condition like OCD can complicate your daily life to a greater extent.

OCD is not just a habit like biting your nails, it may be an obsession with anything that triggers a compulsive response to that particular action.

Like if you drop a coffee cup on the floor, and cleaning it more than 10 times, you don’t intentionally do it but you can’t stop that if you are suffering from OCD. Everybody has some habits to stay, but what makes it an OCD is you can’t stop them, the response for the obsession may even go for hours, you feel powerless to your own actions.

Some common types of OCD are,

1. Checking- It is an obsession with checking the door locks, alarm systems, oven, stove, etc.

2. Contamination- fear of things that might be dirty or a compulsion to clean. Mental contamination involves feeling like you’ve been treated like dirt.

3. Symmetry and Ordering- It is arranging things in a certain way, and want it to stay like that forever, even small changes can trigger the compulsive behavior in them.

4. Ruminations and Intrusive thoughts- an obsession with a line of thought. Some of these thoughts might be violent or disturbing.

How to know if you have OCD?

As we already discussed not every compulsive behavior is OCD, usually, OCD diagnosis is done by identifying the obsessive thoughts that create a great level of Anxiety and Stress. There are certain signs and symptoms that can confirm your OCD diagnosis,

1. Fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt or contaminating others.
2. Fear of losing control and harming yourself/others.
3. Order and symmetry: the idea that everything must line up “just right” all the time. This is usually considered to be the most prominent symptom seen in many OCD patients.
4. Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky.

When doing OCD screening in individuals, Doctors have identified Stress as one of the important risk factors for developing a condition like OCD. In the primary screening stage, mental health practitioners use OCD quizzes to confirm the initial symptoms of it, then move on to the treatment stage.

Take an OCD test online:

OCD is not a disease, it is a mental health condition. So it can be easily treated through various therapies. But screening for OCD is the first step you must take towards getting relief from the mental condition. Do I have OCD? The quiz is framed to determine if your obsessive behaviors are symptoms of OCD or just normal obsessions. It is the first step towards your OCD diagnosis, your mental health practitioner should insist you on the further course of treatment. The questions of this OCD quiz are designed in a way to determine whether you need medical help in treating your mental health condition.