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Best jobs for people with ocd


Best and worst jobs for people with OCD

For people living with OCD, finding the right job and a supportive workplace can be life-changing.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that is characterised by (unwanted) obsessive thoughts and repetitive, compulsive behaviours. Everyone's experience with OCD is different, but many people with OCD face challenges finding work and holding down a job.

It can be stressful to keep up with the demands of work when you're dealing with intrusive thoughts, uncontrollable behaviours and stigma from others. What's more, OCD is often accompanied by other conditions such as social anxiety or depression.

Despite the challenges, many people with OCD lead a successful and healthy work life in jobs that are meaningful and rewarding. At APM, we've seen first hand how having the right job in a supportive environment can lead to life-changing benefits.

In this guide, we look at the best jobs for people with OCD and jobs that are often challenging to cope with. Plus, where to get support finding a job that's right for you.

What are the best jobs for people with OCD?

Everyone has different needs and goals when it comes to work.

Just like everyone else, people with OCD excel in a wide range of jobs and workplaces. What might be right for one person might cause anxiety or stress for another. A person with OCD might succeed in a typically challenging role when they have the right support and accommodations.

If you're not sure what jobs are a good fit for you, consider talking with an employment consultant. They can help you brainstorm career pathways and discover job opportunities that match your interests, skills and needs.

Some of the best jobs for people with OCD include:

1. Flexible jobs

OCD symptoms can have a significant impact on daily life. Having some flexibility at work can help you better manage the ups and downs of your mental health.

Some jobs are flexible by nature, such as freelance photography, online tutoring and fitness coaching. You'll have more control over when you work and how much work you do.

For jobs with traditional schedules, accommodations can make the roles more manageable. For example, if you find it hard to get to work on time, your employer may be willing to let you have a flexible starting time. If you find it hard to get out of the house some days, you might be able to work from home when needed.

2. Part time jobs

If you find it challenging to cope with a full time schedule, consider working part time hours instead. Lots of jobs can be designed into part time roles, including teaching, administration, cleaning, bookkeeping and counselling. If you need further flexibility, your employer may also allow you to take time off for mental health appointments, treatments and recovery.

3. Low stress jobs

For many people with OCD, fast-paced and high-pressure jobs can be a source of stress and anxiety. Jobs like research analyst, data entry clerk and delivery driver are typically low-stress roles.

However, what might be low-stress for one person might be a triggering environment for someone else. Understanding the environments where you work best – and the environments that are most challenging for you – is an important step in the job search.

4. Jobs with structure and clear expectations

For many people with OCD, unexpected challenges and last-minute changes at work can be difficult to cope with. On the other hand, many people with OCD excel when they have a clear work structure and expectations.

Packing and shelf stocking jobs might be a good fit if you like routine. Accountants, librarians and lab technicians all have highly structured roles. But you don't have to work in a traditionally structured role to get the benefits of structure and routine.

Many other types of jobs can be redesigned to create more structure and ensure clear expectations. For example, your manager might provide you with a daily schedule or give you access to scheduling apps and software.

5. Detail oriented jobs

If you're good at checking the small details, your skills could make you a highly desirable candidate for certain jobs. Detail-oriented jobs like proofreading, data entry and quality inspecting could be a good fit. If you're looking for a more hands-on role, practical jobs like mechanics, construction and appliance repairs all require good attention to detail.

6. Independent work

If you find customer-facing roles or team-based work stressful, you might prefer a job where you can work independently. For some people with OCD, independent work improves focus and productivity.

Couriers, jewellers and cleaners often work on their own. Creative jobs like photography, copywriting and graphic design are also often highly independent. If you enjoy being part of a team, but find social interactions overwhelming, working from home part of the week could help you find the right balance.

7. Remote work

Working in a shared workplace can be triggering for some people with OCD, especially if you're also dealing with social anxiety. Working from home could give you more control over your environment and help you better manage OCD symptoms. Jobs you can do remotely include copywriting, transcribing, graphic design, accounting and audio engineering.

What are the worst jobs for OCD?

Although everyone's needs are different, the worst jobs for OCD tend to be high-stress and unpredictable. A lack of flexibility can also be challenging.

Keep these factors in mind to avoid the worst jobs for OCD:

  • Unpredictability – if you find it hard to cope with change, jobs like fire fighting, journalism and ER nursing might not be the best fit.
  • Tight deadlines – if you struggle with time management or keeping on top of deadlines, jobs with flexible hours might be more suitable.
  • Social interaction and customer facing jobs – highly social roles like retail and customer service may be draining if they trigger OCD symptoms or cause anxiety.
  • Decision-making jobs – perfectionism and black and white thinking can make decision-making roles like HR and management challenging.

Get support to find work

If you're living with OCD and need support to find or keep a job, APM is here for you. We help people with obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders find meaningful work at no cost to you.

We understand everyone’s journey with employment is different. APM employment services are personalised to your situation and goals. Our employment consultants help find the best jobs for people with OCD, based on your interests, needs and priorities. We can also help you access workplace accommodations, financial assistance and other support to stay in work.

Find out more about our Disability Employment Services or call us on 1800 276 276 to get started.

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Jobs for People With OCD - Top 10 in 2022

A person working from home

Just like many OCD people, worrying about the best jobs for OCD sufferers may be one of the most recurring things in mind. While your worry is valid, this article is telling you that you should know that even with OCD you can get a good Job And start a career. Ideal jobs for someone with OCD should be flexible, part-time, or full-time.  There are so many options of jobs for people with OCD, you just need to read the next few paragraphs while we bring you some of the best you can consider.

Top 10 Jobs For People With OCD

People who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder may due to their condition live a very strict life, the disorder can affect their day-to-day life and mental well-being. It may generally make finding a job or having a career difficult, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a job.

The following 10 jobs for people with OCD have been carefully selected to help you find your foot.

What are the best jobs for people with OCD?

  • Online instructor
  • Transcriber
  • Software Developer
  • Writer, Editor, Proofreader
  • Artist
  • Medical Coder
  • Housekeeper
  • Electronic Technician
  • Accountant
  • Web Analytics Jobs

We invite you to have a look at our list of jobs for people with disabilities to find and apply to jobs for people with OCD that might interest you.

Start Applying Now

1. Online Instructor

If you have goosebumps or anxiety teaching people in a class but you have a passion for teaching, you can consider teaching people online from your home. All you need is a computer, and a camera set up, maybe some lightning and microphone will also do. You can decide to create teaching packs, recorded courses in whatever version you prefer, either audio, video, or audiovisual.

You can also do written tutorials. The advantage of starting a career in online teaching is that you can work at your pace and in your own home. You can plan courses according to the time you have, you can fit everything in at your convenience yet still make enough money.

2. Transcriber

If you’re searching for careers for OCD sufferers, being a transcriber is one you should also consider. You can work anywhere as a transcriber, this means you have a pool of opportunities, you can take jobs in audio or video files, transcribe dialogues or documents.

Transcribers make a lot of money working in the medical Fields as well as legal fields, a background in medical or legal terminology will even take you a step higher. Truth is, transcribers are needed in a lot of industries and it is also one of the best jobs for OCD sufferers since it requires organization and structures. It can help you keep your mind focused and distract your mind from anxiety.

3.  Software Developer

Do you like working in the tech field or do you have skills for tech? Then you can consider taking software development seriously. This industry is an ever-growing industry that always needs people. You won’t have any problem starting as a programmer or a web developer.

You only need programming skills and you can learn them remotely. Skills like analysis, education, testing, programming, java, PHP, are needed for software development. It is a very lucrative field and career for people with OCD

4. Writer, Editor, Proofreader

These 3 in one skills are all ideal jobs for someone with OCD. If you love to write as an OCD person you can definitely make a good living out of your passion. Working in a convenient environment and a convenient job can help reduce anxiety. You can decide to be a freelancer and remote worker.

Most writing jobs don’t require your physical presence. Most companies that hire writers allow them to work from home, set their hours and working days.

In all, while working you can also improve your mental health by doing what you love most. From writing, you can grow to pick out errors from content and progress towards editing. You may even create your blog and write contents that can help people with OCD cope during hard times. You can carve out your niche and overall build a career.

5. Artist

You can also be an artist as an OCD person. You can express yourself through your art and the originality of your mind. There are so many specialties in the arts, from painting to sculpting and photography. You can make some good cash being an artist.

Jobs for someone with OCD have one thing in common, and it’s the room to use your mind and the act of creating something good, straight from your kindy, is good for your mental health. That you can express whatever is going on in your mind, is a great freedom everyone covers.

6. Medical Coder

Medical coding has to do with recording medical information and data, keeping accurate records and making data accessible all the time. Jobs that require routine arrangement are especially good for OCD sufferers, if all you do is put together details in a convenient environment you can do it perfectly even with OCD.

Medical Coders put together data that’s used in registries, reimbursement of insurance, medical histories for treatments and so on. The good thing about this job is that you can do it from home, it is, therefore, a good career path for people suffering from OCD.

7. Housekeeper

If your OCD is clean, why not put it to good use? Why not turn your disorder around and use it to do something meaningful? Well, if you are a perfectionist about cleaning and getting rid of dirt, you can consider taking up a housekeeping job.

This will allow you to express yourself and earn money at the same time. Housekeeping is a job that requires people all the time so you would not have a problem getting a job, and they earn well too. You can get a decent living working in the hospitality industry.

8. Electronic Technician

One of the best jobs for OCD sufferers is being a Circuit Board Electronic Technician, you get to inspect different circuit boards visually. You’ll also deal with the components of the board, joints and make sure they’re placed right. Technicians also make comparisons on circuit boards as well as schematics.

When you’re done, you then document the data. Technical knowledge in physics or electrical engineering is needed for this job. The pay is good, it is also a good place for someone with OCD. You get to arrange and make sure things are in place, this is especially good for someone with OCD.

9. AccountantAccountant man sitting at his desk and using a calculator

Accountancy is another job for OCD sufferers, it involves a lot of organization and this is especially good for someone with OCD (obsessed with organizing).

our roles would rally around finance, tax preparation and so on. If you think you have these skills and you’re good at numbers, you should take it up.

You can either decide to work in a company or even freelance. You can also choose flexible working conditions for yourself.

10. Web Analytics Developer

Web Analytics is on the list of ideal jobs for someone with OCD requiring new-age technology skills. This job role demands a good knowledge of web traffic management and acquisitions.

You must also know how conversions on websites work and how your insights can be more profitable. Most times this job requires that you work remotely and flexibly, you do not need to appear in a place of work or run a 9 – 5.

Conclusion

In summary, having OCD is not the end of the world, it doesn’t make you unemployable. There are a lot of opportunities you can take up as an OCD person, all you need is the right information. Most of these jobs are all new-age jobs and it has factored remote work into them.

This means you may not even need to appear in person for the job, as you can do them from the comfort of your house. So if you have OCD, don’t hesitate to look at the different careers for people with OCD offered by many industries.

FAQ

How does OCD affect work?

People with OCD may have problems concentrating and focusing at work, and that’s going to affect productivity. They may also have problems staying at a workplace, they may change work often affecting their career growth.

What are the best jobs for people with OCD?

This article has discussed the top 10 jobs that people with OCD can do and excel at. From Art to Web Analytics, Housekeeper, Medical Coder and so on. These are all jobs that OCD sufferers can do.

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“Wash your hands 10 times so nothing happens”: how obsessive-compulsive disorder is manifested (and treated)

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In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a person is tormented by obsessive thoughts and actions that he cannot stop. E Clinical psychologist Svetlana Malysheva, an expert at the Not in Vain Medical Solutions Foundation, tells how to suspect this anxiety disorder and help yourself or a loved one.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder and how common is it?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or obsessive compulsive disorder is the most difficult anxiety disorder to treat. However, it is diagnosed only in 2-3% of people in the world. Why? A person is embarrassed to talk about the problem even with relatives, and even more so - to seek help from a psychologist and psychotherapist. Although there are many people around us with various mental illnesses, with whom it is possible to live qualitatively in society.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder usually manifests itself at 20-25 years of age. In men - before puberty, in women - closer to 20 years. OCD is also sometimes seen in children and adolescents.

How does obsessive-compulsive disorder manifest itself?

In OCD, a person is tormented by obsessive thoughts (obsessions) and actions (compulsions) that he cannot stop. For example, thoughts about the threat of contamination of one's own body: a person washed his hands, left the bathroom, and it seems to him that he is already dirty. The idea of ​​cleanliness becomes very important, and keeps spinning in the head like a broken record that does not turn off and torments a person. He has to come up with all sorts of rituals to calm himself: “If I wash my hands five times before going out, then they will definitely be clean. ” As psychotherapist Mehmet Sungur says, “A person with OCD doesn’t wash his hands, he washes his mind.”

The more a person with OCD follows the rituals, the more they confirm the underlying phobia.

Constantly washing hands, a person confirms the idea that germs will kill him if ... he does not wash his hands right now. The vicious circle is fixed, the cycle is closed.

A person with OCD cannot stop - he constantly mixes thoughts in his head, tries to keep the outside world under control. If something goes wrong, he may experience emotions that he cannot cope with and again begins to come up with some kind of rituals.

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder may fear that they will behave aggressively, or feel that their thoughts are inappropriate or immoral and feel guilty about them. In this case, the specialist has to work with thoughts, not with behavior.

OCD is also based on a feeling of some kind of threat and constant doubts about whether the person did everything for something to happen or, conversely, not to happen. A person doubts all the time, takes on super-responsibility for everything that can happen to him, shows excessive alertness. For example, it endlessly checks to see if the sockets at home are turned off to prevent short circuits and fires, which it poses as a threat.

A person with OCD considers himself a key link in the chain of any, even external, events beyond his control. It seems to him that if he can imagine the worst outcome in his head, then he must do something to avoid it.

Why does OCD occur?

  • Biological causes eg birth trauma, developmental delay.
  • Genetic and personality traits - perfectionism, preoccupation with details, rules, order, indecisiveness, excessive conscientiousness, excessive desire to do everything right. However, they only increase the likelihood of OCD, but this is not a direct causal relationship. For example, even if both parents are diagnosed with schizophrenia, there is only a 10% chance that a child will have schizophrenia.

Freud spoke of the "personality triad"—pedantry, stinginess, and stubbornness—as characteristics of a person suffering from OCD. Freud's followers believed that a child's delay in the anal stage of development (difficulties with toilet training and fixation at the anal stage) may indicate that a person will develop OCD, but modern research has not tested this thesis.

Neo-Freudians said that the occurrence of OCD is associated with self-esteem - the lower a person's self-esteem, the more likely he is to develop one or another disorder, including OCD.

Behaviorists have noted that human behavior and disorders are a learned pattern.

  • Education. Many experts have noted that the parents of a child who subsequently develops OCD are overly demanding and tightly control the child. In such families, a ban is imposed on emotions, on certain behavior.

The future development of OCD can also be influenced by the perfectionism of parents, when a child cannot make a mistake, when it is considered a catastrophe, as well as ambivalent, opposite in meaning messages - when one behavior can be praised today, and scolded tomorrow. However, this style of parenting can cause various disorders.

OCD is a set of factors that coincided in a certain period of a person's life. These factors can provoke any retraumatization, re-injury.

If a person had a psychological trauma in childhood, for example, a child was abused, then any difficult event in his life, any crisis situation can start the disorder again. Something happens and OCD symptoms get worse.

When and how is OCD diagnosed?

First of all, you don't need to diagnose yourself, only a specialist can do it!

We very often have to not confirm the diagnosis, but to support the person with the words: “Wait, you are going through a difficult period in your life, suffering is normal! This is not about a diagnosis, it is objectively difficult! And the person is surprised: “Wow! I thought I was sick!"

Spot diagnosis is important!

We can call a person prone to obsession, but not diagnose him with obsessive-compulsive disorder. And the next question is whether such a condition will become pathological, whether it will acquire clinical manifestations.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM), we give OCD when a person's compulsive behavior takes more than an hour a day. If less than an hour, then you need to understand whether a person is prone to obsessions by nature or is this a specific disorder.

Unfortunately, in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, people often use non-scientific methods (esotericism, energy coaching), although medicine should work here.

Diagnosis must be carried out by a doctor!

With disorders and suspected disorders, it is very important to consult a doctor - a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Only he can make a diagnosis. For example, I, as a clinical psychologist, cannot make a diagnosis. I can only notice that something is wrong and immediately refer my patient for a consultation with a doctor.

Why is OCD dangerous?

Any anxiety disorder can so exhaust a person that he may have suicidal thoughts. If a person cannot cope with emotions, does not see the prospect, depression can join OCD when a person does not leave the house or washes his hands until they bleed. This is a very pronounced degree of pathology, when a person needs help, and the sooner she comes, the less the risk of suicide will be.

Is it possible to get rid of OCD?

OCD is a chronic disease. However, the skills acquired during psychotherapy remain with the person forever. The task of the patient is not to avoid "kickbacks", but to learn how to use these skills and quickly return to normal.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy shows 50-80% effectiveness in the treatment of OCD, and this is a very good result, recognized all over the world. In difficult situations, psychotherapy is combined with medication support, and this is also a very important point, since anxiety disorders also have a neurobiological basis, which means that it is important to take into account the nuances of the work of brain neurotransmitters. OCD treatment is a piece of jewelry!

There is no one size fits all way to help different people with OCD. What may work in terms of psychological tools with one patient may not work with another. This is a joint work with a specialist through building a trusting contact.

We often offer all sorts of behavioral experiments to prove to a person that his thoughts are dysfunctional, unrealistic, what "magical" thinking is, takes away his energy and strength, prevents him from living.

How can such an experiment be arranged?

By the time it is carried out, we have already established psychotherapeutic contact with the patient. A person trusts a specialist, he knows that he is not alone. Under such conditions, at first we can only ask the patient to imagine in his head how, for example, he touches a dirty bill and applies it to his face - such an action can cause a person to have terrible anxiety and real fear.

  • Sometimes specialists write a document (commitment) that they take full responsibility, for example, for turning off the iron in the patient's house.

It seems to a person: if he can imagine the worst possible scenario (iron not turned off, fire), then he must do something to prevent it. He seems to become responsible for what he only imagines in his head. “If I can imagine it, then I am responsible for the consequences.” By concluding such a contract, the specialist seems to “take” this responsibility upon himself and removes it from the patient.

  • Many behavioral experiments can be devised, and they will show a person that an action that scares him is actually not as scary as it seems.

We scale these emotions, observe how a person copes with them. At first, a person is very scared, then the emotion begins to subside, and the person realizes that this did not kill him, he did it. For some time, a person gets used to this state.

This is a step-by-step work with a clear tracking of experiences, this is learning, in the process of which a person builds a new style of response and new neural connections, which we reinforce with the help of behavioral experiments, a cognitive approach, work with thoughts.

Personal experience: "How I was treated for OCD"

What should I do if the disorder returns?

When we work with a disorder in the CBT paradigm, it is usually short-term therapy. We do not have the task of "hooking" the patient on ourselves - we believe that a person is able to cope on his own and be responsible for his health, including mental health. Therefore, regular meetings are held first, and then we increase the time interval between them, we can switch to maintenance therapy, for example, once a month or every three months.

The specialist's task is to teach the patient certain skills, train them and let them live their life that has already changed for the better.

It is important for a person with chronic anxiety disorder or any physical illness to develop the skill of self-management in order to independently understand when something is not right. In the process of therapy, we always develop an individual plan for the prevention of relapses, so if a rollback occurs, the patient knows what to do about it.

If you notice symptoms of OCD in yourself or a loved one

If a person notices that their behavior is out of the normal range, thoughts or rituals become obsessive and affect the quality of life, then it is worth contacting a specialist. It could be a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist.

Author: Anna Mikhailova.

The material was prepared by Prevention.Media, an educational project of the Not in vain Foundation.

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Katerina Reznikova,

How to recognize obsessive-compulsive disorder - Lifehacker

March 7, 2021LikbezZdorovye

There is a line after which the desire to put everything on the shelves turns into a neurosis.

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You can not only read this article, but also listen to it. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

It's good to be a control freak sometimes. It is better to make sure five times that you definitely put your air tickets and passports in your bag than to find out later at the airport that the necessary documents are missing.

But for someone, the desire to control and double-check becomes obsessive. And so much so that it seriously spoils life. A person is literally obsessed with certain things. For example, he cannot leave the house until he has made sure that the iron is turned off 20 times. Or he won't wash his hands 10 times. Or, let's say, does not bring the hallway to a shine.

This behavior is called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). With this disorder, a person is regularly visited by obsessive disturbing thoughts (obsessions), which he tries to get rid of with the help of equally obsessive rituals (compulsions).

According to the American National Institute of Mental Health, OCD affects 1-2 people out of every 100. In the US alone, the problem affects over two million people.

It is rather difficult to recognize the line where healthy forethought or love of cleanliness begins to turn into a mental disorder. But still it is possible - if you do not miss some characteristic symptoms.

How to recognize obsessive-compulsive disorder

All people, of course, are different. But obsessions most often develop according to several scenarios of the same type. Here they are.

1. Fear of germs or dirt

An uncontrollable passion for hygiene is one of the most common symptoms of OCD.

People with this disorder are desperately afraid that disease-causing microbes will settle on their hands or body. So they wash their hands five times in a row. And repeat the procedure every time you have to touch the doorknob or handset of the office phone. Well, the need to shake hands with a colleague, hug a friend at a meeting, or, let's say, grab a handrail in public transport, becomes their personal nightmare.

2. Unhealthy passion for cleaning

There are people whose houses literally shine. These are neat people. But if everything is clean and guests walk around the apartment like in a museum, but you are still unhappy and have an irresistible desire to rub mirrors and polish the floor in the hallway again and again, we can talk about it - obsessive-compulsive disorder.

3. The need to have everything in order (literally)

A cup left on the table instead of taking its place on the kitchen shelf can send a person with OCD into a natural tantrum. He is enraged by any things that, in his opinion, are not where they should be. Slippers must be placed on a shoe rack, a program must be under the TV, and even a cat must sit in its basket. A person can be nervous even if the thing is located at the wrong angle.

Some might call this behavior a perfectionistic passion for order. But no - this is also a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

4. Excessive self-doubt

Many people worry about how they look, whether they are doing the right thing and what others will think of them. This is not a problem (more precisely, not the worst of them).

Such experiences become a problem when a person cannot keep them inside.

He wonders endlessly: do these jeans really suit him? Is the mascara smudged? Doesn't he look too fat in this dress? Is he doing the right thing? And now? And now? And here he is also not mistaken?

The neurotic physically needs constant encouragement or reassurance from others that he is all right. This is what obsessive-compulsive disorder is.

5. The need to constantly double-check everything

Standard examples are supposedly an unturned iron or an unturned light, for which a person can return home two or three times. This also includes the need to pull the door handle a dozen times, even if you just locked the door with a lock and bolt. Or, for example, regularly double-check whether the e-mail has exactly gone to the addressee.

6. Obsessive counting

Trying to focus on something, many count to themselves. For example, they whisper: "One, two, three - let's go." This is fine.

But if a person counts the most unexpected things - let's say, the number of trees a tram passes by, or the number of green peas in a brought salad, this is already a reason to be wary. Even worse, if the results of the calculations are disturbing (“There are 13 peas in the salad, the waiter obviously wants to spoil me!”) And they force you to perform some actions (for example, take one pea out of the salad and throw it away). This behavior is already a little beyond normal, yes.

7. Aligning life according to clear rituals

Maybe you arrange your socks in a drawer strictly in the order of the colors of the rainbow. Or at lunch, eat foods in alphabetical order: first drink broth from the soup (the letter “B”), then eat noodles (L), meat (M) and only after that - a boiled egg (I is the last letter of the alphabet). Or go to work the only, strictly defined route. A step to the left, a step to the right - and you already have a panic in half with the certainty that the day will go “wrong”.

If there is any, even the most harmless ritual in your life, the deviation from which causes anxiety, this may be a sign of OCD.

8. Accumulation of things

Healthy behavior is to get rid of clothes, furniture or appliances that have become obviously unusable.

It is unhealthy to think: “Yes, let it lie down (stay), and suddenly one day it will come in handy.” And do this 100 times, or even 200 times, until the house turns into a warehouse of old things. Uncomfortable, but calm. And it fits perfectly with the symptoms of OCD.

9. Obsession with relationships

Parting with a loved one, quarrel with a friend, conflict with superiors. These are unpleasant, but quite common situations. Everyone has to worry, try to understand what exactly led to the breakup or scandal, everyone has to draw conclusions. But if experiences and self-criticism last for years, you should seek help.

What to do if you suspect obsessive-compulsive disorder

The best option is to see a psychotherapist. The specialist will help you figure out if we are really talking about OCD. Perhaps he will suggest that you take a blood test: sometimes excessive anxiety is a symptom of thyroid disorders, and then you will need to consult an endocrinologist.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, if confirmed, corrected with psychotherapy. Your doctor may also prescribe antidepressants. All this will help reduce the level of anxiety and get rid of obsessive thoughts and actions.

But one cannot hope for “it will pass by itself”. The fact is that mental disorders tend to increase, worsen with age. And this can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Experts from the American research organization Mayo Clinic name among them: